Collision Course
by Lovin Suliet
Summary: James and Juliet story, takes place after the incident. It has turned into a saga. . Will it all happen again or this time will they win the war. Who will be left standing in the end? Story includes multiple other characters.
1. Chapter 1

Notes: Here is a new fic that I started last night. Not much written yet, but I have a general sense of where the story is gonna go. Hope you enjoy.

Collision Course

Rachael glances down at her watch as she unlocks the door to her sister's house.

"Seriously Jules", she thinks to herself. "If you were on time just once it would be amazing"

"Juliet" she calls when she enters the house.

She looks around to find the house still in darkness and heads towards Juliet's room. Finding the bedroom door still closed she pushes it open. She sees her sister still sound asleep in the bed.

"Juliet", she calls again approaching the bed.

"Time to get up, you were supposed to meet me at 8:30 at Julian's pre-school. I knew you were going out to a work thing last night", she continues while throwing open the curtains to let some light in the room.

"But honestly Jules, they've never been that exciting that you've slept in the next morning"

When the light hits her eyes, Juliet flips over onto her stomach and pulls the pillow over her head.

"It's too early James I'm not getting up yet."

"James?" Rachael asks confused.

It is then that Juliet realizes that the voice in the room is that of a female and the bed that she is in is not the one that she had been sharing with James. Her mind is a haze of confusion as conflicting memories fly through it. She tries to sort out what she now assumed was a dream, and what was real.

She flips back over pulling the pillow from over her head, and is face to face with her sister.

"Rachael?" she asks confused.

"The one and only", her sister sarcastically replies.

"Rachael", says Juliet again, only confusing her sister more as she jumps from the bed and throws her arms around her.

"God Jules, I saw you yesterday", she continues very confused.

"Just what did you do last night? You were supposed to meet me at Julian's pre-school this morning. We were suppose to go shopping today"

"I'm sorry", she stumbles, looking for the right words, trying to hide her own confusion over what was playing out in front of her eyes.

Rachael just nods her head. Her sister's odd behaviour this morning had caught her off guard but she pushed it off to having just woken her up.

Juliet rubs her hand over her forehead. "I just had the weirdest dream", she said trying to shake off her odd feelings.

"About someone named James I'm guessing"

Juliet gives her sister another odd look.

"You mentioned his name when I opened the curtain's, I was beginning to wonder if your 'work thing' last night was really some hot date you didn't want to tell me about"

Juliet shakes her head she needed some time to think before she addressed that question.

"Let me grab a shower, and I'll get ready to go"

With that Rachael turns and heads out of the bedroom.

"I'll throw on a pot of coffee I'm thinking you definitely need one before we go", Rachael says in response to Juliet's very odd behaviour this morning.

Juliet flips on the radio and enters her bathroom and looks at herself in the mirror. In the background the music plays on the radio.

"When you're alone  
And life is making you lonely,  
You can always go downtown  
When you've got worries,  
All the noise and the hurry  
Seems to help, I know, downtown

Just listen to the music of the traffic in the city  
Linger on the sidewalk where the neon signs are pretty  
How can you lose?

The lights are much brighter there  
You can forget all your troubles, forget all your cares and go  
Downtown, things'll be great when you're  
Downtown, no finer place for sure,  
Downtown, everything's waiting for you"

She runs her hands through her hair. In the mirror's reflection she notices the faint blue bruises that were beginning to form on her wrists. She pulls up her t-shirt and glances down at her abdomen. There too, bruising was beginning to become evident.

She turns, leans against the wall and slides down it as the memories come flooding back to her.

The chains, they had dragged her down and then he had grabbed her hand.

"_Where do you think your going Blondie? Hold on, hold on"_

"_I love you"_

"_No, don't you let go", the look of desperation in his eyes._

"_I can't, I can't get it off."_

"_I've got you, hold on I've got you"_

"_I love you James, I love you so much"_

"_No"_

"_It's okay"_

"_Don't you leave me"_

She heard the sound of his voice screaming her name until she landed at the bottom of the pit. And then for a brief period it was darkness. For those brief moments when she opened her eyes and became aware of her situation she truly wished that death had finally taken her. Part of her had always known that dying on the island was her destiny. Instead of heaven, she landed in her own private hell. And then she saw it, the bomb laying there taunting her. Eight times she had hit it, and then again she was taken by darkness.

She becomes aware of the tears dripping from her eyes. It wasn't a dream, it really had happened.

She pulls herself up off the floor and again looks into the mirror, shower momentarily forgotten she wipes the tears from her eyes and races from the bathroom.

"Rachael", she says running to the kitchen.

"What is the date today?"

Rachael takes in the dishevelled appearance of her sister as she enters the kitchen. Juliet was still in her pj's and now appeared to have been crying. Rachael's annoyance at Juliet quickly turns to worry.

"Jules, you are freaking me out here. First you sleep in then you act like you haven't seen me in six years and now you don't know what day it is? What happened to you last night?"

Ignoring her sister's questions Juliet spy's a calendar on the desk in the living room. Running to it, she starts frantically flipping through it. Rachael follows her, putting her hand over Juliet's.

"Its September 8th", she says softly. She places her other hand on Juliet's cheek, moving her head so they are eye to eye.

"2004", she adds seeing the questioning look on Juliet's face.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

"September 8, 2004" she repeats still looking Rachael in the eyes.

"It worked"

"What worked honey?" Rachael asks not taking her eyes off her sister, completely confused by her behaviour.

"Honestly Jules, you need to fill me in here. I'm not quite sure I understand."

Juliet closes her eyes a moment. She contemplates a way to explain this whole situation to her sister, without Rachael wanting to commit her although she's not sure that is really possible. It was all so completely crazy and unbelievable.

Rachael takes Juliet's hand and leads her to the kitchen table. She notices the bruising to her wrist.

"What the hell", her voice full of seriousness now.

"Okay, so shopping is off the agenda today. You need to tell me what the hell happened last night Juliet"

Juliet sits quietly at the table, still trying to contemplate what she could possibly tell Rachael.

She thinks to herself. "September 8, 2004, Flight 815 will take off from Sydney on September 22. I have two weeks to find him"

She is roused from her thoughts when Rachael places a cup of coffee in front her and with her own coffee in hand sits down across from her.

The silence is once again broken by Rachael.

"Okay Jules, spill it. Who is James and what does he have to do with those bruises on your wrist"

Juliet again glances down at her wrists. The bruising was much more evident now than it had been a short while ago in the bathroom. How could she explain to Rachael that she suddenly had two pasts? One of which included the love of her life, who may or may not remember her. And the other past, the one she currently seemed to be living, where she was hazy on the details.

"I can't Rachael"

"What do you mean you can't Juliet? Just tell me what happened last night"

"It's not that easy. I'm not sure I understand it Rachael"

Rachael gives her a questioning look as Juliet contemplates her next words.

"I didn't make it to Julian's pre-school to meet you today because", she pauses "because I don't remember ever having that conversation with you. Yesterday and I say yesterday loosely because things are a little foggy for me right now, but yesterday I was on an island in the middle of the ocean, and it was 1977. The bruises were caused by James holding onto my wrists in an attempt to save me from being dragged by chains, into a pit"

She was aware again of the tears which were blurring her vision, as she continued again to relive the memories which were so fresh and real to her.

"Only I couldn't hang on, he was going to fall too and I had to let go to save him. "

She trails off, collecting her thoughts again. She was completely unaware of Rachael's dumbfounded look at the story she was telling.

"There is no way I should have survived that fall", she says shuttering while remembering the pain she had felt when she had woke up at the bottom of that shaft.

"When I came too, I saw the bomb. Jack said if the bomb went off everything would be reset, that Flight 815 would never crash. I was crazy I didn't trust how much he really loved me. I was so afraid of losing him to someone else that I figured that if I never met him, I'd never have to remember losing him". She knows she is rambling now, but she can't stop herself.

"I wasn't supposed to remember", she says in all but a whisper.

"But I do remember, I remember everything... "

"There was a rock and I hit the bomb, there was a flash of white and then just darkness. And then this morning you woke me up, and here I am in 2004."

"Rachael", she says lifting her tear stained eyes to meet her sisters' again.

"I haven't seen you in over 6 years. I left to go to that island in 2001. It was suppose to be for six months. I was supposed to be home before Julian was born. Only they wouldn't let me come home because I couldn't save the women. The pregnant women kept dying no matter what I did to try and save them. Around the time that Julian was due to be born, I begged them to let me come home. Ben told me that your cancer returned and that if I stayed they would make sure that your cancer was cured"

Juliet puts her head in her hands. "God, I wonder if they all remember? Will he remember?"

Rachael sets her coffee cup on the table and gathers her little sister in her arms. Despite having heard a tale that seemed completely unbelievable, there was something in Juliet's eyes. There was sadness there that she had never seen before.

"I'm not sure I understand anything you just told me Juliet", she says hugging her tightly.

"But something tells me that I need to try and believe you"


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Shopping now forgotten, for the next few hours Juliet and Rachael talk. As Rachael talks, more and more of Juliet's memories of this life come tumbling back to her. She remembers Julian's birth, his first steps, and his first words. She remembers their recent summer vacation at Disney. The memories were quickly becoming as real to her as the memories of being on the island. She truly did have two pasts, and somehow they had just collided into one new future.

Her confusion over two pasts makes her wonder what truly had happened in her alternate past. For Rachael, Juliet had never gone to the island. Her cancer had never relapsed. She had a healthy pregnancy and successfully given birth to Julian and essentially was living happily ever after.

She wonders if Ben had truly lied to her, or when she hit that bomb she had essentially erased the past 3 years as Jack said would happen, except for the fact that she remembered everything.

Not speaking aloud Juliet wonders just what else happened when she hit that bomb. As far as she now remembered, she was never sought out by Richard Alpert in 2001. Had detonating the bomb really stopped the 'incident'. Had it been the 'incident' that caused the pregnancy problem in the first place and by stopping it did she therefore essentially eliminate the need for her to be brought to the island? Each of these questions floats through her mind, and she becomes more determined to find the answers.

Before they are aware of it, it is mid afternoon. Rachael glances at the clock, and realizes that she is going to be late picking up Julian. She hated to leave Juliet, still unsure what she believed and didn't believe of the tales her sister had told her. It all seemed completely crazy. She knew in her head that what Juliet had told her just wasn't possible. Yet Juliet seemed more emotionally fragile than Rachael had ever seen her.

She stands.

"I've gotta run and get Julian but I'll be right back"

"Rachael, you don't have to do that. I will be okay"

"Okay or not Jules, I'm coming back. I'm not leaving you alone tonight"

She realizes arguing with Rachael never got her anywhere. "Fine", she replies. "I'm going to take that shower I was going to have this morning. I'll see you when you get back"

Rachael hesitates a moment and then hugs Juliet. She could see that distant look creeping into Juliet's eyes. As a child, after their parent's divorce Juliet became very good at hiding her feelings and locking up everything inside. Rachael wasn't going to let her resort to that self preservation tactic now.

"I'll be back in half an hour", she says letting go of her.

"Don't worry, I won't go anywhere", replies Juliet as she watches her sister head out the front door.

Once Rachael leaves, Juliet heads back to her bathroom. She turns on the water to the shower, undresses and climbs in. As the warm water pours over her, she pushes her hands through her hair and closes her eyes. She can picture him in her mind. The look on his face knowing he was about to lose her. She leans back against the wall of the shower.

"I'm going to find you James", she says sliding down the wall, collapsing into tears.

"Somehow I'm going to make this right again"

******************************************

"Son of a bitch", he says as he lifts his head up off the pillow and moves his hand to his head, now acutely aware of the hangover he had acquired.

"Maybe that last beer wasn't such a good idea last night", he thinks to himself.

He glances around his dumpy motel room, and remembered he was in Sydney. Finally he had tracked down the man responsible for killing parents. It was time to get his revenge. His eyes fall on the clock. It was close to noon. He pulls the blankets and pillow back up over his head.

"No sense in getting up yet", he thinks to himself. He slips back off into his alcohol induced sleep.

This time when he shut his eyes he began to dream.

_His dreams were vague, a blonde woman that he couldn't quite catch up too. No matter how hard he tried to catch up to her, she jumped that much further ahead of him. He had no clue why he felt the need to follow her, to see her face but something was driving him._

"_Dammit woman, would you just slow down and turn around so I can see your face", he calls out to her._

_Finally, he catches up to her. He puts a hand on her shoulder in an attempt to make her turn around so he can see her face. When he turns her to face him she disappears. The same scenario repeats over and over again. Each time he touches her, she disappears and then he finds himself chasing her again._

An hour later he wakes in a cold sweat. He hadn't dreamed like this since he was a child. In those days after his parents died he had nightmares just about every night. His uncle told him that he needed to try and move on. Nothing he did could change the past. Eventually he just stopped talking about them, and the nightmares disappeared.

Finally realizing that any more sleep just wasn't happening, he gets up and gets himself into the shower. He wouldn't have his chance for revenge for a few more days. He was still working out the details on getting the guy alone. His dream still disturbing him, he heads to the motel bar.

"Nothing a few beers can't kill", he thinks to himself as he gulps back the first of the day. Despite the beer, he couldn't shake the thoughts of the faceless blonde woman from his dream.

"Who the hell are you Blondie?" he thinks to himself.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Juliet had lost track of the time she had spent sitting in the bottom of the shower contemplating her situation. She finally realizes that she had better get herself pulled together soon because Rachael would be back with Julian.

She is fully dressed and somewhat put together when they arrive.

"Auntie Juliet", the little boy squeals as he runs through the front door to her waiting arms.

"Mommy says we are having a sleepover", he says blissfully unaware of the changes in his aunt.

She hugs the little boy like it was for the first time, despite the continually growing flashes of memories she was having from the first three years of his life. After a hug the little boy is off to his toy box, leaving the sisters alone again.

Rachael doesn't miss Juliet's puffy eyes. She knew her sister better than anyone, and she can tell that Juliet had likely spent the better part of the time she had been gone in tears.

"Oh Jules", she says at the sight of her sister. She takes her hand and leads her to the couch.

"I wish that there was something I could do to take away your pain. Don't distance yourself from me now Juliet. I want to be here for you. I don't understand any of this, but I will help you if I can"

"I'm going to Australia Rachael", she says bluntly.

"Australia?"

"James was on Flight 815 from Sydney Australia to Los Angeles. What if Flight 815 is destined to crash on that island Rachael? I need to find him before that plane takes off"

"Jules, are you really serious? Are you really listening to yourself? You are just going to jump on a plane to Australia. If he remembers, if all of those people on Flight 815 remember like you do, do you think they'd really get on that plane? And if when you hit that bomb it reset everything, and as we know you aren't on that island anymore so what make's you think that the rest of them will end up back there? We need to think a little about this before you just go running off to the other side of the world"

"Rachael, you don't understand. This is my fault. I caused this. If James remembers he is going to think that I am still on that island. I have to find him before he goes looking for me."

"How do you even know that he is in Australia?" Rachael asks, continuing to try to reason with Juliet. She couldn't bare the thought of her running off around the world right now, not her state of mind.

Juliet looks to the floor, "Ben had files on all the 815 passengers. James went to Australia three weeks before the crash. He went there to murder the man that was responsible for killing his parent's"

"Juliet", Rachael starts.

"Wait Rachael, don't get the wrong idea"

"Don't get the wrong idea?" she asks somewhat stunned. "You just told me that the man you fell in love with is a murderer"

"We all have our demons Rachael", she replies distantly.

She stands and turns, lifting her shirt to show Rachael the mark on her back. Lowering her shirt she again turns around and looks to her stunned sister, "I was marked because I too am a murderer"

Rachael is shocked she had never seen that mark on Juliet before.

"This is ridiculous Juliet. None of this makes any sense. You aren't capable of murder"

"I wasn't the same person on that island Rach, I know this seems completely unbelievable and I'm sure you are questioning my sanity right about now. But for me that island happened. Those memories are so fresh for me. I did what I had to on that island in order to survive"

Trying to be the voice of reason, Rachael continues "Okay, so let's say this James is in Sydney and he remembers you. What are you going to do?"

"Rach, we lived together for close to three years. I love him more than I have ever loved any man. I want to spend the rest of my life with him, I need to make sure he knows that"

"And what if you find him and he doesn't remember? Wouldn't it be easier to see if he finds you then to know that the man you love more than anything in this world has no memories of your life together?"

"Right now", she pauses. "In order to get through these next few weeks, I have to believe that he remembers"

Rachael sighs. "When do we leave for Australia?" she asks.

Juliet shakes her head. "I need to do this alone Rachael, besides, Julian needs you. You need to stay here. Plus, if for some reason James does remember and he thinks I'm on the island still he'll come to Miami and look for you"

Rachael gives Juliet a sceptical look. "No way Jules, if you insist on going, I'm going too"

Stubbornly Juliet refuses to give in. "Please Rachael just let me do this alone. I promise you I will be alright"

Rachael reaches over and pulls Juliet into a hug. "Alright, I give in. But you have to call me every day. If for even one day I don't hear from you I'm on the next flight to Sydney"

"It's a deal", Juliet replies, feeling at ease for the first time since she had woken up that morning.

Two hours later Juliet had a flight to Sydney booked for the following morning. She had left a voice mail for her supervisor at work taking a few days off for personal reasons. Before going to bed that evening, with Rachael's help she had packed for her trip. Her final thought before shutting her eyes that night was James.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes: Juliet is off to Australia in this chapter. Through the next few chapters there are verses from the song Collide, by Howie Day. Enjoy!**

**Australia Bound – Chapter 5**

"_The dawn is breaking  
A light shining through  
You're barely waking  
And I'm tangled up in you  
Yeah_

_I'm open, you're closed  
Where I follow, you'll go  
I worry I won't see your face  
Light up again_

_Even the best fall down sometimes  
Even the wrong words seem to rhyme  
Out of the doubt that fills my mind  
I somehow find  
You and I collide"_

Rachael takes her to the airport early the next morning. She is unsure of her true feelings. Part of her was nervous she wasn't going to be able to find him. Another part of her excited at the prospect of seeing him, finding him, hoping he remembered as well.

She took her seat on the plane knowing she is was in for an incredibly long plane ride and she needed to try to relax if she was going to make it there without having a breakdown.

A day an a half later she was settling into her hotel room in Sydney. She called Rachael as promised to let her know that she had arrived safely, and was settled. From her discussions with James and having read his file she has a vague idea of his timeline from when he was in Sydney.

_**** Flashback ****_

_The first time he saw her mark was about six months after their arrival in Dharma-Ville. It also was the first time they almost made love. On the couch, in their shared Dharma-Ville home, they had finally given into the feelings they had for each other. He had slid his hands across her back under her shirt, feeling the rough scar beneath his fingers. _

_"What the hell Blondie", he says turning her to get a good look at her back. _

_"It's nothing James"_

_"It's not nothing Juliet, someone marked you", he pauses a moment. _

_"It was Ben wasn't it"_

_She avoids eye contact with him, which only lets him know he is right._

_"Why Juliet? Why did they do it?"_

_It was her turn to pause, "Because I murdered one of my people", her eyes avoid his again._

_"You murdered one of your people", he says and then it dawns on him. That day on the beach, she had shot Pickett so he and Kate could get away._

_He takes her hand and looks her in the eyes, "you saved me", he says gathering her in his arm. _

_When they finally speak again he says, "I killed a man once too, I was out for revenge, except the man I killed was innocent" _

_He then proceeded to tell her of killing Frank Duckett and although she already knew the story from having read his file, she knew he needed to release himself of those demons._

_********_

Two days from now he would kill Frank Duckett, the man he was conned into believing was responsible for his parent's death. That is where she was going to start. Based on what had happened to her in the past few days and how different her life was, she wondered if the same would be true for him. If he remembered the island, would he still go to kill Frank.

_*** Two nights later****_

It was dusk and the rain was beginning to fall when she pulled up close to Frank Duckett's Shrimp Wagon. Seeing a man moving around in the trailer she assumes that James had yet to arrive. She was fairly certain that this was the night that James would kill him. If he showed up, she was determined to stop him.

An hour later, the rain was pouring down harder. She can see the man is starting to clean things up and get ready to close down for the night. In the distance she can see the headlights of a car. The car pulls up near the shrimp wagon.

Her heart races when she realizes that it was James in the car. She can see him hesitate before getting out. He seems not to have noticed her sitting in his vehicle. He seemed completely preoccupied with what he was about to do.

She sees Frank Duckett open the door to the Shrimp Wagon, grab garbage bags and head towards the dumpsters. James then exits his car. She can see that the gun in his hand.

She can't let him do this. She can't let him kill an innocent man. She knows that years from now it will continue to haunt him. Irregardless of whether or not he remembered her, she was not letting him do this.

She gets out of her car, following him. He was still completely unaware of her presence.

She hears his voice as he speaks to the man, "Sawyer", he says lifting the gun and pointing it at the man.

"James", she yells out at him. "Stop"

Hearing her voice, he turns. The man he had just called Sawyer, realizing he was just about to have been shot, drops his bags of garbage and takes off on foot, jumping into his vehicle and taking off.

"Son of a bitch", James says realizing his target has just escaped.

He turn's, there in the shadows was a woman with long blonde hair. He can't recall ever having seen her before, but can't shake the feeling of familiarity.

"Who the hell are you" he says looking her in the eyes "and how do you know my name?"

"Do you know what you have just done?" he continues to fire questions at her not giving her an opportunity to answer.

Her heart sinks.

"He doesn't remember", she thinks to herself.

He again lifts his gun, this time pointing it at her.

"I asked you who the hell you are lady, and why do you know my name? I'm going to give you about five seconds to start explaining"

"I. . ", she stammers looking for the right words.

"James", she says calmly, "Please, put the gun down. I don't mean you any harm".

"Don't mean me any harm, lady", he says "I just pulled a gun on that man, do you think he isn't going to the police to tell them some damn American just tried to murder him?"

"You aren't a murder", she continues calmly.

"Says who?" he replies.

"James you are a good man"

"Listen lady, I don't know who the hell you are, or how you knew what I was going to do tonight. But you know nothing about me. I am not a good man, and that man deserved what was coming to him"

She pauses a moment trying to regroup her thoughts. She had been dreaming he would remember, she'd prayed for it. But obviously fate had different plans.

She finally shakes her head. "No", she continues. "He didn't deserve to die, at least not by your hand anyways."

"You were set up by a man named Hibbs. That man, Frank Duckett owed Hibbs money. Hibbs was using you to kill him, to do his dirty work. That man had nothing to do with the death of your parents"

"Who sent you here", he replies, obviously rattled by what this woman was telling him. He couldn't fathom how she knew his name and intimate details of his life.

"It doesn't matter who sent me here", she says realizing there was no way she could tell him anything of what she knew. Feeling defeated that he didn't remember she continues "and it doesn't matter who I am" her voice starts to tremble, "go home James, go back to the United States, go back and be a father to your daughter", she trails off.

Without giving him a chance to respond she turns and heads back towards her car. As she turns, the tears she had been holding back begin stream down her cheeks and mix with the rain as they fall to the ground. As she gets in her car to drive away she glances at him one last time. He had not moved since she had turned, and was watching her every move as she had gotten into the car.

***********************************************************************************************

_"I'm quiet you know  
You make a first impression  
I've found I'm scared to know I'm always on your mind_

_Even the best fall down sometimes  
Even the stars refuse to shine  
Out of the back you fall in time  
I somehow find  
You and I collide"  
_

James stands getting soaked by the rain as she drives away. When her car disappears off into the distance he finally makes his way to his own car. His head was pounding and he leans it down against the steering wheel.

"Ahh", he screams into the wheel, frustrated and angry over what had just occurred.

"Was she right?" he wonders. He knew that it was possible that Hibbs would have set him up, that was just the kind of thing he would do. The more her face flashed in his mind, the more he felt she was familiar to him.

He finally lifts his head shaking it but no matter how hard he tried he couldn't place how he knew the strange woman who had just stopped him from committing murder.

He turns the key in the ignition and the car grumbles to life. He heads back towards his motel, again stopping at the bar. Tonight, he definitely required a beer.

*******

_"What'cha celebrating?" he asks as he climbs from the water and walks towards her on the beach._

_"I'm not celebrating", she says, motioning at the black puffs of smoke rising out over the ocean._

_"That our boat?" he says noticing what she was gesturing at._

_"It was", she says sadly and takes another drink from the bottle._

He sits bolt upright in the bed. He had been dreaming again, the third time since he had crawled into bed that he'd had this exact same dream.

"Guess its better than the one I had the other night", he thinks to himself.

"Least this time I can see your face Blondie"

It is then that it hits him.

"It's her", he says aloud.

"Why", he says frustrated. "How could I possibly be dreaming about her? I have never seen her before tonight"

He had been certain that it must have been Hibbs that knew the woman. Somehow he must have tipped her off to what he was doing in Australia. He had talked himself into that explanation, but deep down knew that it really made no sense at all. If Hibbs had wanted Duckett dead why would he tip off some woman that it was about to happen and why would that woman travel all the way to Australia to stop a man she didn't know from committing murder. None of what had happened made any sense what so ever.

Her words kept going through his mind.

"Go home James..... Go back and be a father to your daughter".

That was the part that really made no sense. The only one that knew he was that child's father was Cassidy, and she had no clue where he was. He hadn't seen or spoken with her since she'd told him he had a daughter.

Glancing at the clock he sees that it is now pushing 3:30 am. Frustrated he flips over and pulls the pillow over his head. Finally, sleep takes him.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

It had been nine days since Juliet had stopped James from killing Frank Duckett. She had spent the past four days desperately trying to track him down again but had not been able too. It seemed for the time being at least that he had just disappeared.

Tomorrow he would get on Flight 815 and her chances of finding him again would significantly decrease. She can't wipe from her mind the look he had given her that night. For a brief moment she thought she saw a spark of something in his eye, but as it turned out he had no clue who she was. It was obvious to her that at least part of what Jack had said was right, some of them didn't remember.

Her new plan was to get to him before he boarded Flight 815. As she fell asleep that night she contemplated what she would say to him when they were finally face to face. "I can't go home without trying one more time", she thinks to herself as she drifts off to sleep.

She wakes the next morning with a start. Glancing at the clock she realizes she has slept through her alarm. Flight 815 was due to take off in one hour.

She scrambles to get herself ready and heads out of her hotel. On the way to the airport it seemed her cab hit every red light and got stuck in every traffic jam possible.

When her cab driver finally pulls up to the departure gate she tosses him money and runs from the cab. She races to the gate where Oceanic 815 was leaving from.

"Final boarding call for Oceanic Airways Flight 815 to Los Angeles", she hears as she races through the crowded airport.

Getting to the gate, she is stopped by security.

"Please", she says to the security guard. "You have to let me in there. It's essential that I try to get to one of the men that is getting on Flight 815"

"Sorry Miss", the security guard replies. "Without a ticket I can't let you pass through security, besides the doors to the plane have been closed. It is getting ready to taxi down the runway. It is due to take off in five minutes"

"No", she says pleading with the man. "Please, if you won't let me through you have to tell me if there is a man named James Ford on that plane. I must talk to him"

"Again, Miss, I'm really very sorry. There is absolutely nothing I can do. If you head back to the Oceanic Airlines Customer Service desk they might be able to tell you whether or not your friend checked in for the flight", she gives a frustrated sigh.

Defeated she finally leaves the security gate. Heading to the window she sees Oceanic 815 taking off. She feels a tear run down her cheek. "I'm sorry James", she thinks to herself. "I'm sorry I failed to stop you from getting on that plane"

Once the plane has disappeared over the horizon she makes her way back to the departure terminal. She makes a reservation on a flight for the next morning which would take her back to her life in Miami.

***************************

Still disgruntled from his failed attempt at revenge James had made it to the airport for his flight home.

The past nine days he had been haunted by the woman who had stopped him from committing murder. Every night it was a different random dream, none of which ever seemed to connect or make sense. There was something about her that he just couldn't place. He was mad as hell at her because she had foiled his plans but at the same time thankful she had stopped him from killing an innocent man.

He takes his seat on the plane and can't get her face out of his mind. "Why do I know you Blondie, and yet I can't remember your name?" he wonders.

"I have never seen you before in my life. How did you know where to find me in Australia? How did you know my name? Why are you haunting my dreams?" He had so many questions and no matter how much he tried, he couldn't find the answers.

He glances out the window as the plane makes its final taxi down the runway and prepares to take off.

He closes his eyes . . . .

"_I have been trying to get off of this island for more than three years and now I have got my chance. I am going to leave"_

"_You do realize its 1974, whatever it is you think you are going back too doesn't exist yet"_

"_That's not a reason not to go"_

_  
"Well what about me, you are really going to leave me here with the mad scientist and Mr. I Speak to dead people? And Jin, who's a hell of a nice guy, but not the greatest conversationalist"_

"_You'll be fine"_

"_Maybe, but whose gonna get my back"_

"_Come on, just give me two weeks, that's all I'm asking"_

"_Alright, two weeks"_

His eyes fly open, "Juliet", he says aloud as the plane lurches and the seatbelt signs come on. He tightens the belt around his waist as the plane lurches once again, only this time feeling as though it's falling from the sky.

***********************************************************************************************************

"_Even the best fall down sometimes  
Even the wrong words seem to rhyme  
Out of the doubt that fills your mind  
You finally find  
You and I collide_

You finally find  
You and I collide  
You finally find  
You and I collide"

Four hours later Juliet is sitting in the hotel bar, drowning her sorrows in a glass of wine. She notices multiple people beginning to crowd around the television set. Picking up her glass she wanders over to see what was getting everyone's attention.

Her heart sinks as she reads the words that are floating across the screen. "Flight 815 feared to be lost.... Oceanic Airlines Flight 815 from Sydney to Los Angeles loses radio contact and disappears from radar. . . "

"James", she whispers as her world fades to black as she sinks to the floor.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes: Again, thanks for the reviews. I love them, keep them coming. Love the speculation chatter about where this story will go. Hope you like the way that it ends up. I started this story with an idea of how I wanted to start and how I wanted to end, how to get there I hadn't decided. **

**Chapter 7**

From across the room he sees the crowd gathering around a woman on the floor.

"I'm a doctor, let me through", he says pushing his way through the group.

He crouches down beside her, sliding his fingers into the crook of her neck, feeling for her pulse. He is relieved to feel she has a strong bounding pulse. He surmises that she has just fainted.

With his other hand, he brushes her blonde hair off of her face and a look of surprise crosses his face. "I know this woman", he thinks to himself. "But how"

He glances up at the television and sees the headlines crossing the screen. "Oceanic Airlines Flight 815 feared lost over the ocean. . ." His heart sinks. He was supposed to have been on that plane. .

He returns his attention to the woman who had still not regained consciousness. The hotel manager approaches. "Her name is Dr. Burke, let's take her up to her room. She'll be more comfortable there"

The doctor scoops the woman up into his arms. Her head rests against him. "So you are a Doctor too", he says aloud, talking to her despite the fact she was still unconscious. "That must be how I know you"

He follows the hotel manager to the service elevators, and they make their way to Juliet's room. Once inside, he lays her gently on the couch.

"Thank you for your help doctor", the hotel manager starts. "But our hotel doctor is on his way up right now. You can be on your way", he tells the doctor.

The man shakes his hand. "You can tell him to save the trip. I'm staying with this woman until she wakes up" he says stubbornly.

"But sir", he starts.

"No buts", replies the man. "I know Dr. Burke, I'm sure she will be more comfortable with me here when she wakes sup", he lies.

The manager shakes his head. ."This just isn't how we normally do things", he starts, "but I will go call the desk and stop the doctor from coming for now. Excuse me", he says stepping away from the man and Juliet.

Once he is disappears from the room, the doctor notices Juliet starting to stir. He moves over to her.

Juliet is aware of only her pounding head when she starts to wake up. She rubs her hand along her forehead and tentatively opens her eyes. . "Oww", she says moving her hand along her forehead attempting to sit up. As she does, she remembers the headlines that had streamed across the television. "Oh God, James. . ", she trails off.

He approaches her, placing a hand on her arm. "Shh", he says. "You are okay Miss. . "

Juliet turns her head at the sound of the man's voice. "Son of a . . ", she starts.

"Jack?", she asks questioningly.

This time it was Jack's turn to feel faint. As she says his name, flashes of memories fly though his head.

_***Flashback***_

"_What is it you do Jack? What is your profession?"_

"_I'm a repo-man, you know when people don't pay their bills, I go into the bank and collect their possessions. I'm a people person, so I really love it"  
_

"_The drugs we gave you when we brought you here, they have fairly serious side effects. Dehydration, your head is probably sore, your throat raw, and if you don't eat or drink something soon you are going to start hallucinating"_

"_So you're a doctor?"_

"_No, I'm a repo-woman"_

_******_

"Juliet", he says barely above a whisper. Every moment new memories of the island were pushing out the more recent memories of the past six years.

Tears spring to her eyes. "You remember"

"But how", he says still in disbelief. "How do I remember?"

Juliet pushes herself to a sitting position on the couch Jack takes a position next to her. "I don't know how we remember. I only know that two weeks ago I woke up in Miami. Rachael, my sister was standing in my bedroom asking me why I missed our shopping trip. As my mind cleared suddenly I had two pasts. I remembered everything that happened on the island as well as everything that had happened in my life in Miami from 2001 till now."

Jack shakes his head. "This is crazy, it makes no sense"

"Welcome to the life I have been living for the past two week. . ", Juliet trails off.

"The plane", Jack says, remember what he had seen right before helping Juliet down at the bar.

"You saw the headlines on the television, is that why you fainted?", he asks.

She nods, tears again overflowing her eyes. "I tried", she says her voice trembling

"I tried to stop him from getting on the plane. But he doesn't remember. . "

Jack looks at her sympathetically. "Sawyer"

He pulls her into his arms.

When her tears subsided he continues to ask her questions.

"How did you survive Juliet? You fell into that pit. Kate and I pulled Sawyer off of there he would have come down right after you. . "

She lets go of the breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding and closes her eyes. Those memories of their last moments together were so vivid and so heartbreaking for her.

"I don't know how I survived. Some cruel island karma I guess. . ", she says without much emotion. "When I opened my eyes at the bottom of that shaft, and realized I was alive, I wished I was dead. . "

She shutters at the memory.

"It felt like my entire body was broken the pain was intense but when I looked beside me I saw the bomb you dropped laying there taunting me"

"There was a rock, and I was able to reach it. I hit the bomb, it took a few times but then everything went white and then it was only darkness."

"When I woke up again, I was in my bed in Miami."

She turns over her wrists, showing him the faint bruises that were still evident from James holding onto her and lifts her shirt slightly, showing him where the chains had tightened around her.

"These are how I knew it was true. This is how I knew that it happened"

This time it was Jack's turn to let go of the breath he'd been holding.

"I'm sorry Juliet. This is my fault."

His fingers brush across the healing bruises on her wrist.

"I was so certain that Dan was right, that blowing up that hydrogen bomb was the right thing to do. That that was our destiny"

"What do we do now?" she asks.

"It looks like we didn't stop anything. Flight 815 is gone, disappeared, just like it did on the other September 22, 2004"

Jack takes a moment to think this through. "Obviously some things have changed Juliet. You aren't on the island and I never got onto that plane"

"I assumed that we stopped the incident. I was able to deliver babies in 1977, so whatever happened to cause the pregnancy problem I figure happened with the incident. If we stopped the incident than we stopped whatever it was that caused the problem. I figure, my presence on the island just wasn't needed"

Jack remains silent, contemplating what she had just said. It seemed plausible enough.

"Why didn't you get on the plane Jack? "

"Same reason that I almost didn't make it on the last time", he replies. "On the first time around, they weren't going to let my father's casket on the plane because I didn't have the right paperwork. I talked them into it. This time, there was no talking them into it. I came to Sydney to accompany my father's body back to Los Angeles, and I stayed because they wouldn't let him on Flight 815. I have the correct paperwork now and my flight leaves in the morning"

"What happens for you now?" he asks.

"I have to find James" she starts and then clarifies. "I need to find James. My heart feels like it is broken, I need to find him. If Flight 815 crashed that means finding the island."

"Juliet, are you really listening to yourself. You want to go back there? You want to leave your sister and your nephew and go back to that hell"

"It wasn't all hell Jack, not all of it anyways. James is the best thing that ever happened to me. I don't feel complete anymore. Besides", she pauses.

"Don't you want to find her don't you want to find Kate?"

Jack sighs, "Kate and I, we . . " he trails off.

"We have been given a second chance Jack. We remembered when we weren't supposed too. There has to be a reason for that."

"Please", she begs, placing a hand over his. "Please help me find them"

He is silent for a few moments and then gives her hand a squeeze. "Alright", he finally says. "But first, you have to come back to LA with me. I need to take my father home"

It was her turn for silence. Finally she nods.

"I'll call Rachael and tell her of my change of plans, then change my flight", she trails off.

For the first time in almost two weeks she was feeling hopeful.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

"What do you mean you are going to Los Angeles? Juliet this is crazy. You have been gone for two weeks. Come home. Julian misses you, I miss you. Give up this wild goose chase"

Juliet had called Rachael to tell her of her change of plans, she listens while her sister says what she needs to say.

"I can't", she says simply. "It's all real I know that I'm not the only one that remembers. Jack remembers. I have to find James and make him remember too"

"You can't?" questions Rachael, ignoring for a moment the rest of what her sister had said.

"If there is a way for me to find him Rachael, I have to try. I'm going to go to LA with Jack and then he's going to help me find the island"

"Juliet, I'm beginning to question your sanity. I mean, you have to admit all this is absolutely crazy. I told you I would support you but", she pauses and then speaks again. "It's getting very difficult"

"Rachael", she starts and then sighs. "I'm going to do this with or without your support", she says stubbornly. "I have come this far, I can't back out of this now"

"You spent six years trapped on that island Jules, what's to say that if you go back there it won't happen again"

Juliet had thought through that exact same thing. The memories of the years she had spent away from her sister and her nephew were as fresh to her as everything else that had happened to her in the past two weeks.

"That won't happen again, I won't let it", she says softening her tone.

There is a knock on her hotel room door. "I have to go Rachael, Jack is here"

"Wait Jules", pleads Rachael.

"I love you Rachael. I will call you when we land in LA", she says as she hangs up the phone.

She walks over to the door, her conversation with her sister tugging on her heart. Maybe Rachael was right. Maybe she should just forget this and go home. Maybe James wasn't meant to remember.

She opens the door to find Jack on the other side. "Hi Jack, come in", she says turning to step out of the way.

"You okay?" he asks, noting her distant look.

"MmHmm", she says nodding her head. "Just got off the phone with Rachael, she wants me to come home"

"Maybe you should go home Juliet"

"Not you too Jack", she replies. "I made a decision. If it means I go back to the island to find James, that's what I'm going to do"

He realizes there is no sense in arguing this further with her. She had made up her mind. There was no changing it now.

"Have you watched the news this morning?" he asks.

"Nope", she says shaking her head. "I know the fate of Flight 815 I don't need to watch it on television."

"Me too", he replies sadly. "I went to turn it on this morning and realized that I couldn't stand to see the faces of the passengers splashed all over the television. I already know their fate"

Seeing her bags packed in the corner he goes and picks them up. "You ready?" he asks.

"Let's go", she says turning to take one last look at the hotel room.

Together they leave their hotel room, and catch a cab to the airport.

Three hours later their flight leaves Sydney for Los Angeles.

Meanwhile.....

"Son of a bitch", he says as the plane finally touches down on land. "I thought for sure we were going down", he thinks to himself.

The past 12 hours of the plane ride had been crazy. The pilot announced that the plane had experienced an electrical problem. This had caused them to lose radio contact with flight control towers and for all they knew the world assumed that their plane had crashed into the ocean.

A half hour before landing the flight attendant had announced the pilots had regained some radio control and they were being guided in for an emergency landing in Tahiti.

He glances around the plane. So many faces he now recognized, Rose, Bernard, John, Claire, Charlie, Sayid, and Hurley. He tried to make eye contact with them, desperate to know if they too remembered. He sees Kate, hand cuffed to the Marshal. He thinks he sees a spark in her eyes but while she is cuffed to the Marshal there is no way to talk to her.

"Where the hell is the Doc?" he wonders searching the plane. "He's the only one that isn't here"

And then his mind wanders to Juliet. From the moment he remembered her name, and the plane felt as though it was falling from the sky, their life together flashed before his eyes. He is barely able to hold back his emotions as he remembered their last day together.

"_And you would stay with me forever if I let you, and that is why I will always love you"_

"_Why are you doing this Juliet?"_

"_If I never meet you, then I never have to lose you"_

And then she was dragged by the chains into the pit. He had pleaded with her to hang on but her love for him had made her let go. Replaying that scene over and over in his mind he now knew, she had let go to save his life.

So many questions so little answers. How had they ended up like this? Jack's plan had obviously worked. By detonating the hydrogen bomb, things were reset. For a few tedious moments it seemed that Flight 815 was going to crash anyways, but it hadn't.

And Juliet, she was certain she would still be stuck on the island. But she wasn't. She had come to Sydney to find him. She had stopped him from committing murder. He wonders where she is now.

"She thinks I don't remember" he thinks to himself. "I pointed the gun at her. I could have killed her"

As the plane bounces along the tarmac he closes his eyes. "I'll find you Juliet" he whispers. "I promise you, we'll be together. You were wrong Blondie. I do remember meeting you and I do remember losing you, and I'm guessing you remember too"

When the passengers of flight 815 disembark the plane, an Oceanic Air representative hustles them away from the waiting reporters and into a private area of Tahiti's airport. The media had just gotten the scoop that the Oceanic Air flight 815 that was feared lost had landed safely in Tahiti and many were looking to get the scoop.

The representative tells them that another plane is being sent to Tahiti to take them the rest of the way to Los Angeles. During the chaotic scene, James slips away from the rest of the Oceanic Air passengers. He no longer had any intention of going to Los Angeles, he was going to Miami. It no longer mattered to him if the other Oceanic 815ers remembered all that mattered to him now was getting to Juliet.

On his way to the ticket booth he sees a payphone. He dials the operator asking to make an international call. "Juliet Burke in Miami Florida" he tells the international operator. After waiting for what feels like forever he finally hears the phone ringing on the other end. He prayed that she would pick up but wasn't surprised when after a few rings the answering machine clicks on.

"You've reached Juliet, I'm not available to come to the phone right now please leave a message at the beep and I'll get back to you when I can"

His heart beats faster hearing the sound of her voice. He never thought he would hear it again. When she slipped from his hands and fell down the pit he was sure he had lost her forever.

He pauses a moment before speaking. "Juliet", he takes a deep breath.

"It's James, I remember", he trails off. After another pause he continues, "I'm on my way to Miami, wait for me. I love you Blondie", he says before he begrudgingly hangs up.

Once he has hung up the phone he heads to the ticket counter, placing his credit card on the desk he asks for a ticket on the first flight to Miami.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes: Thanks again for the lovely reviews. Keep them coming, I enjoy reading them. We are onto chapter 9. . **

**Chapter 9**

Juliet had given into sleep shortly after the plane had taken off. She had not had a decent night sleep in over two weeks and exhaustion took over.

"Juliet", she feels Jack touching her hand. "We will be landing shortly", he tells her when she opens her eyes to look at her.

She rubs her eyes, in an attempt to clear her vision. Looking around she remembers she was on a plane to Los Angeles. She glances at her watch and realizes she had slept the majority of the flight. "Sorry Jack", she says turning to look at him. "Guess I wasn't much company for you"

"No worries", he says placing a hand over hers.

"I'm glad you finally got some decent sleep" he tells her.

Glancing out the window she can see LA in the distance. "What is our game plan when we land?" she asks.

"There is a hearse meeting us at the airport. From there, we'll head to the cemetery. I'm meeting my mother there. She has the funeral planned. Once the funeral is over we can decide how we want to go about finding the island."

Before giving her a chance to speak he continues.

"I have some ideas; we need to find Eloise Hawking. She was the one that helped us get back to the island. We'll make her help us again now. There is a Dharma station in Los Angeles, the Lamp Post. It is in the basement of a church that is where we will start"

She looks at him somewhat confused.

"There is a Dharma Station in Los Angeles? Jack, I lived with the Others for 3 years and lived as a part of the Dharma Initiative for another 3 years. How is it possible that there is a Dharma station in LA, that I know nothing about it?"

"I don't know Juliet", he says shaking his head. "But it exists, I have been there"

The seat belt sign comes on, and the pilot announces they are making their final descent into LAX. Putting on their seat belts, their conversation is momentarily forgotten while the plane lands.

The next few hours are a whirl wind. Just as Jack had said, when they got off the plane a hearse was waiting to take his father to the cemetery. Although she felt somewhat out of place, Juliet kept her promise and accompanied him to the service and sat with him through the burial. While she had felt obligated to keep her promise, she was also afraid to let him out of her sight for fear that they would be separated and she would lose him as well.

Following the funeral there was a small family reception at his mother's house.

"Mom, this is my friend Juliet", Jack says as he approaches her accompanied by his mother. They hadn't had a chance to meet earlier and now Jack was making formal introductions.

"Juliet, my mother Margo", he continues. The two women shake hands. Margo looks over Juliet.

"So Juliet, Jack tells me you are an old medical school friend and that the two of you ran into one another at the hotel in Sydney."

Juliet looks to Jack, catching the subtle nod of his head. "Yes", she says.

"It was quite the coincidence we ran into one another. I hadn't been feeling well and fainted, thankfully Jack was there to help me out", she says giving him a smile.

Thankfully another acquaintance of Jack's mother interrupted them, taking her off to another group of friends.

When they were alone again Jack spoke, "Thanks for humouring her", he says. "I'm sure she was trying to figure out just what our relationship is and whether or not there was more to your appearance with me today"

Juliet rolls her eyes. "Mother's", she says. "Always trying to read into the situation more than there is to read"

He catches the tiny smile that spread across her face. "That is the first time since we met in Sydney that I've seen a smile on your face. I missed it", he said.

She looks him in the eyes. "It's the first time in over two weeks that I've been distracted long enough to think of something other than James."

She gets more serious. "I'm sorry you lost your dad Jack, I know this hasn't been easy on you. But thanks for everything you have done for me these past few days. I feel like you are the only friend I've got right now, and I need you more than you know"

He pulls her into an embrace, "My pleasure Juliet. I'm glad to be able to help"

From across the room Jack's mom doesn't miss her son embrace the blonde woman that had accompanied him to the funeral.

After a short embrace Jack steps back from Juliet, he takes her hand and leads her outside onto the beach.

Walking out into the sand, Juliet takes off her shoes and steps into the edge of the water. "I wonder", she says looking beside her to see Jack, also standing barefoot in the water.

"I wonder what he's doing right this minute. He could be looking out at the water, just like we are"

"We are going to find him Juliet. In the morning we'll go to the Lamp Post and find Eloise"

James second flight in the past 48 hours lands uneventfully in Miami. He catches a cab outside the airport. Despite not having a clue where he was going he just tells the cab driver to drive. He would think while they drove. Finally, seeing a motel he tells the driver to stop. He throws him some cash and exits the cab. Entering the motel lobby he wanders over the check in and pays for a room.

It had been close to twenty four hours since he left the message for Juliet. He wonders if she was back in Miami yet. He had assumed that after that night she stopped him from killing Duckett that she would come home. What if she hadn't he suddenly doubts? Maybe she stayed in Sydney. He picks up the phone and dials her number. After a few rings the answering machine again picks up. This time he doesn't leave a message. He hangs up the phone and digs out the phonebook.

Searching through the book he finds her address. He jots the address down on a piece of paper. He then looks up the address for Rachael Carlson. "If she isn't home", he thinks, "surely her sister will know where she is"

Pulling the piece of paper he heads out of the hotel. Hailing a cab he gives the driver the piece of paper. "First address first", he says. "If there is no one there then we'll go to the second address"

"Got it", the cab driver says and starts to drive.

Twenty minutes later he pulls up in front of a quaint white house with a picket fence. He smiles, "That's my Blondie", he thinks to himself. "She always said she wanted the white picket fence"

There was a car in the driveway but the house looked deserted. "Wait right here", he says to the cab driver.

"Gotcha", he replies.

James jumps from the back of the cab and makes his way up the walkway. Taking a deep breath he knocks on the door and waits. After a few minutes he knocks again. Getting no answer this time he slowly turns and walks back to the cab. His heart sinks. He had so hoped to find her at home. It would mean she was home safe from Sydney. He realizes that he has no clue about her current life. He knew that Richard Alpert had recruited her to the island in September 2001. Realistically had the reset worked as they thought it should have, she should have gone to the island like she did in the other 2001. But, he knew that hadn't happened. She had been in Australia.

"What is your life like now Blondie", he wonders.

Sitting back in the cab he tells the driver to take him to the second address. It was pushing 8:30 pm, he hoped that Rachael would be home.

Finally the cab driver pulls up in front of a second house. He pays the driver and gets out. There appeared to be lights on at least, in this house. He feels a pit forming in his stomach. What would he say to Rachael? How would he explain who he was? What if he wasn't good enough for Juliet.

"No", he says to himself, pushing those thoughts from his mind.

The man he used to be, Sawyer, he disappeared on that flight from Sydney when his memories of Juliet and their life together had returned.

Again he takes a deep breath and knocks on the door. A few moments later the door opens up and he is face to face with a beautiful brunette.

"Rachael Carlson?" he asks.

"Yes", she replies, giving the strange man at her door a curious look.

"My name is James Ford and I'm looking for your sister Juliet"

Rachael feels her legs weaken beneath her. In a split second the strange man's arms are there steadying her. "Juliet's James?" she asks.

He nods.

Rachael pulls herself back together. "She's not here", she says. "She has gone to Los Angeles. She thinks your plane crashed on the island again. She is with Jack Shephard. They are looking for a way back"

This time is was his turn to feel his legs weaken beneath him.

"Son of a bitch", he replies.

"I think you better come in ", she says to James.

He follows Rachael into her home.


	10. Chapter 10

**Time to review, review, review if you want this reunion to happen ;)...**

**Chapter 10**

"I don't understand", James says following her through the house to the living room.

"Why does she think the plane crashed?" he asks.

"I haven't spoken with her in over 48 hours", Rachael starts to explain.

"She called me before she left Sydney, devastated that she couldn't track you down again and that she missed getting to you at the airport. Then she saw reports that your plane was missing. She told me she ran into a man named Jack Shephard in the hotel. At first he didn't remember, but then for some reason he did remember", she shrugs her shoulders. None of this really made any sense to her.

"The doc", he says. "That explains why he wasn't on 815".

"The plane ran into problems a few hours into the flight. We were told that for quite some time everyone believed the plane had crashed. But it's been all over the media since we landed in Tahiti that the plane landed safely"

"I saw the news reports", Rachael explains.

"But when I spoke to Juliet last, the plane was still feared lost. I would imagine that until she landed in LA that she wouldn't have heard the news."

"I'm not going to even pretend to understand any of this James, my sister has six years worth of memories that I am not privy too. She told me that she loves you with all of her heart and was devastated when she remembered the island, and realized she was separated from you."

"Juliet has been good at hiding her feelings her entire life, until it came to you", she continues.

"For the first time she wasn't able to hide behind the wall she had so nicely built around her emotions"

"Knowing Juliet like I do, I can well imagine she is avoiding anything to do with news of your plane. She believes your plane crashed, she won't be looking for plane crash stories. Her heart was broken when she left here for Sydney over two weeks ago. I'm not sure how much more heartache she can handle"

He knew all too well the way Juliet could hide her emotions. She had done it for close to six months after their arrival in Dharma-Ville until she had finally let him in. He closes his eyes for a moment and can see her face, those blue eyes. Telling him it was okay and that she loved him and then she had slid from his hands. He saw her falling. .

He shutters at the memory.

"I need to find her Rachael. You have to help me find her. I love her too, with all of my heart. When she found me in Sydney I didn't remember her, but when that plane felt as though it was falling from the sky it all came tumbling back. Now all I can see is her face as she slid from my hands and fell down into that pit"

"I was supposed to protect her. I promised her I would always have her back"

Rachael nods, this was almost the exact duplicate of the story that Juliet had told her of the last time Juliet had seen James.

"She should call tonight", she finally says. "When she left for Sydney I made her promise that if I didn't hear from her once a day I was coming looking for her. It has now been almost 48 hours."

"Mommy", calls a little voice from the bedroom.

"Excuse me", says Rachael. "That's my son Julian. I need to go check on him"

Rachael gets up and leaves the living room.

James stands as she exits the room. Looking out the big picture window he realizes the house backs onto the waterfront. He exits out the door onto a deck. He walks down the steps and out onto the small dock, looking out at the water.

"We are so close Jules", he says. "Yet you still seem so far away"

**************************************************************

In Los Angeles, the sun is just beginning to go down. Jack and Juliet are still sitting at the beach, looking out at the calm water. Being here made Juliet feel a little more at peace.

"On the island, James and I use to love sitting on the beach at night watching the sun go down. We use to talk about what it would be like to get back to the 'real' world. "

Jack listens to her talk. His memories from being off the island during those 3 years were not nearly as peaceful as Juliet's. "For a short time Kate and I were happy", he says. "But, I couldn't let myself fully trust that she really did love me and want to be with me"

"I could have had it all", he says wistfully.

"Instead ", he trails off when she places her hand over his.

"Remember what I told you in Sydney Jack. Second chances, you can make things right with Kate"

Glancing down at her watch she realizes that it is almost 10:30 in Miami and she hadn't spoken with Rachael in close to 48 hours.

"Damn", she says aloud. "I need to go in and find a phone and call Rachael. She'll be close to booking a flight to Los Angeles to come and look for me"

The pair gets up and head back into Jack's mother's house. He directs her to the phone and leaves her alone to call her sister.

On the third ring Rachael picks up the phone.

"Jules, where are you", she hears the panicked tone in her sister's voice when she says hello.

"I'm in Los Angeles Rachael", she says.

"I told you I was coming here"

Rachael sighs. "Jules, have you seen the news?" she asks. She glances at the living room and sees that the man is no longer there. She notices him outside on the dock. His back is to her, and she has no way of getting his attention.

"Seen the news?" she questions not really understanding.

"Juliet, the plane, it didn't crash"

Juliet sinks into the chair beside the phone.

"What do you mean it didn't crash Rachael", she asks.

"Juliet, you need to come back to Miami. Get on the next plane and get back here"

"Rach, I don't understand. Why do I need to get back to Miami. If the plane didn't crash, that means he's here. He's in LA"

"Juliet", she says exasperated.

"He's not in LA, he's standing outside my house on the dock right this very moment"

It was Juliet's turn to be confused.

"Keep him there Rachael, I'll be on the next plane", she says hanging up the phone.

In the living room, Jack had flipped on the television for the first time since they had gotten to LA. All over the news there were reports of the miraculous recovery of Flight 815.

"Juliet", he says running into the room where she was on the phone.

"The plane", he says dragging her to the living room so she could see the television.

"It didn't crash", they say in unison.

"You know?" he says, as they look one another in the eye.

"I need to get to Miami, James is there. He is with my sister"

"Let's go", Jack says heading into the kitchen and grabbing his keys.


	11. Chapter 11

**Thanks to those that took the time to review Chapter 11. . hopefully this chapter lives up to expectations.**

**Chapter 11**

The flight from LA to Miami was the longest flight of her life. She couldn't believe it was finally going to happen. It had now been almost three weeks since she had woken up in this new life. The longest three weeks of her entire life. She hadn't spoken with Rachael long enough to know that he remembered everything, but she surmised that his impromptu arrival at Rachael's house meant that he did have some memory of their life together.

"You doin' okay?" Jack asks as the plane makes its final descent into Miami.

She nods, "Just anxious to get off this plane"

"I'm thrilled that this is all working out for you Juliet."

"It is going to for you too Jack", she says sensing his sadness.

"James and I will help you get Kate back"

This time he just nods. If the plane didn't crash, right about now Kate would be locked up in a Los Angeles prison cell awaiting trial for killing her father. Even if she did remember, he wasn't sure that any of them would be able to help her.

Finally the plane landed in Miami. Juliet and Jack made their way from the plane into the busy airport. After gathering their luggage they head out and hail a cab.

************************************************************

Hanging up the phone, Rachael goes out onto the deck and down onto the dock where James was still looking out at the water.

"She's coming home", she says simply.

He slowly turns to look at Juliet's sister. "She's coming home?" he asks confused.

"She just called from LA. Just as I had expected she hadn't turned on the television, nor had she heard the news that the plane hadn't actually crashed"

James was upset he had missed Juliet's phone call the previous evening but was relieved to know she was on her way home.

He suddenly feels hope creep back into his heart, and a smile spreads across his face. "I can't believe it's gonna to happen, I can't believe I'm going to hold her in my arms again"

"You really do love her don't you?"

He nods, "Before your sister I was a no good con man, who was hell bent on revenge. She helped me be a better man"

******************************

He had left Rachael's home just after midnight the previous night and headed back to his motel. For the first time in almost three weeks he had slept soundly and without any haunting dreams.

The next morning he felt refreshed and was anxious to see Juliet. He had so many questions, but most of all he just yearned to hold her in his arms again, to tell her that he loved her.

He arrived at Rachael's house just before noon. He was unsure what time Juliet would arrive but he wanted to be there when she got there.

"Hey James", Rachael says when she opens up the door. "Come on in", she says moving out of the way so he could enter the house.

He noticed that she too looked more rested than she had the previous evening.

"My auntie Juliet is coming home today", says Julian bouncing up to them.

"Go play sweetheart", Rachael says ruffling his hair. Julian heads off back to his toys.

James can see the small dock outside the window. "If you don't mind I'm going to wait out by the water", he says.

"By all means", Rachael says leading James to the door.

She watches as he walks down the steps of the deck and onto the dock. She continues to watch as he sits down at the edge of it.

Rachael heads to the kitchen and puts on a pot of coffee. She too was anxious for Juliet's arrival.

**********************

Tears of an Angel (RyanDan)

"So hold on  
Be strong  
Everyday on we'll go  
I'm here, don't you fear

Little one don't let go

Don't let go  
Don't let go"

An hour later she hears a car pull into her driveway. Looking out the window she sees Juliet and a man get out of the cab. She feels relief flood through her. Finally she was home. Maybe this whole nightmare could end now.

She runs to the front door, throwing it open. "Juliet", she says running to her sister's waiting arms.

"Rachael", she says embracing her sister, feeling tears spring to her eyes. "I'm sorry I've put you through all this"

Rachael pulls away from Juliet and looks her in the eyes. "Just don't ever leave like that again", she tells her.

Juliet cracks a small smile. "Deal", she says.

She remembers that Jack was standing beside her. "Sorry", she says. "Rachael, this is Dr. Jack Shephard"

"Jack, my sister Rachael"

"Nice to finally meet you Rachael, I have heard a lot about you" he says taking Rachael's hand.

Finally Rachael turns to lead them into the house. Entering the living room, Juliet catches a glimpse of him standing out on the dock. Tears cloud her vision, but she can see Rachael nodding. She moves slowly towards the door, wondering if this was truly happening.

He was standing out looking at the water, lost in his memories of the island he didn't hear the door open. Nor did he hear as she approached him.

"I bought us two weeks", she says, her voice cracking, as she places a hand on his shoulder.

"And then what?" he asks turning slowly, their eyes meeting, both with tears freely flowing now.

He gathers her into his arms. "Oh God, Juliet", he says voice cracking as he tightened his grip on her.

"It's really you", he continues to hold her tightly, not wanting to let go.

"I thought that I had lost you forever"

She is sobbing now, "I'm sorry", she cries. "I'm so sorry I let go"

"Shh", he says trying to sooth her tears, running his fingers through her hair, desperate not to let her out of his arms.

"It's not your fault. I love you Juliet, I love you so much. Just promise me you won't ever let go again"

"I promise", she says as their lips finally meet.


	12. Chapter 12

**I had originally planned to end this story post reunion but I have some other ideas now that will play out nicely with how this story started out! I love you hear your ideas and speculations. . so please review and/or send me your thoughts!**

**Chapter 12**

When they finally break from their kiss, he keeps her in his arms, only pulling back just slightly so he can fully look at her.

"You are okay?" he asks with a concerned tone to his voice. He runs a finger down her cheek, wiping away a stray tear. "When you fell, I was sure you couldn't have survived. I wanted to fall down there with you"

"I'm perfect now", she says.

"I.." she stops for a second, unsure how to explain to him what happened after she fell. He lifts her chin so they are looking eye to eye.

"Don't try to protect me Juliet. I want to know what happened"

Finally she continues. "I remember waking up at the bottom of the shaft. I don't know how I survived. I should have been dead." She spares him the details of the pain she felt when she woke up. She could tell by the sad look in his eyes that he could figure that out for himself.

"The bomb was down there with me. It hadn't exploded. . "

"Then how?" He interrupts her. "How did all of this happen? Why are we here?"

"I detonated the bomb" she can feel tears welling in her eyes again.

"I'm sorry about everything I said to you that day", she whispers. "I never wanted to forget you. I never wanted to have never met you. I thought it was my only chance"

He felt a twinge of uncertainty when she initially spoke of detonating the bomb. She was the one who reset things and was willing to wipe away their past together. As quickly as those thoughts popped into his head, he quickly dismisses them. He understands why she had to do what she did, and he pulls her back into his the reassuring comfort of his arms.

"Shh", he says trying to sooth her tears. "You had no choice Juliet you would have died down there. You did the only thing you could have"

When she finally pulls away from him again, she glances at Rachael's house. "I guess we should go inside, Jack is in there with Rachael"

"He remembers too?" he asks.

She nods.

"I was in the hotel bar after I missed getting to you before you boarded flight 815. When I saw the news on the television that the plane was missing, I fainted. Jack was in the bar, he made sure I was okay. He didn't remember initially. He just told me that for some reason he recognized me. The hotel manager told him I was a doctor too he just assumed he knew me because of that. When I woke up and said his name, it all came back to him."

He shrugs his shoulders. . "None of this makes any sense, but we are together and that's all I care about right now. . ", he trails off.

They turn together, hand in hand and walk back up onto the deck and into Rachael's house.

"Doc", James says, stepping closer to Jack, giving him a hand shake. "Thanks for making sure Juliet got here safely." Any anger he had felt for Jack had disappeared the moment he held Juliet in his arms again.

"It was the least I could do Sawyer", replies Jack understanding what Sawyer had really meant by his comment. He knew that deep down Sawyer blamed him for what happened to Juliet on that last day. He too had his own deep guilt for what happened that day.

Sensing that her sister and the two men needed an opportunity to discuss things that she didn't understand, nor was she sure she wanted to understand, Rachael is the next to speak.

"I'm going to go check on Julian, that will give you guys the opportunity to catch up", Rachael turns and heads down the hall, leaving Jack, James and Juliet to talk.

Still hand in hand, Juliet leads James to the couch and they sit together. He wraps his arms around her, afraid to let go of her.

Jack takes a seat opposite them.

"How come you didn't make it on 815 Doc?" James asks.

He relays to Sawyer the story of how this time around the people at Oceanic Air wouldn't let his father's coffin on the plane without the proper paperwork.

"What happened on the plane?" Juliet asks curious to know how James had ended up here.

"815 ran into electrical problems, like before. I had been having dreams about you", he says looking to Juliet. "I didn't understand them. After you stopped me from killing Duckett, I still couldn't remember", he trails off and she squeezes his hand, encouraging him to continue.

"When the plane felt like it was falling from the sky, everything came back to me. The first crash, the island, and you", he says looking into her eye.

"I knew you weren't on the island, because I had seen you in Australia. When the plane finally landed in Tahiti I snuck away and got on a plane to Miami. I figured if you weren't here, I would look for Rachael."

There is silence for a moment and finally it is Jack that speaks. "The others on the plane", he says. "Do you think they remembered too?" he needed to know, did she remember too.

"They were all there", he starts. "But I don't know if they remembered. Fre", he starts and feels Juliet pull away slightly. He tightens his grip on her hand.

"Kate", he continues and feels Juliet relax again beside him. "I saw a flicker of something in her eyes when I looked at her, but I didn't get the chance to talk to her. The marshal had her handcuffed to him. I'm sure by now she is locked up in an LA prison cell"

Jack shakes his head sadly, "She knew that would happen. She tried to get me to understand why she didn't want things reset. She knew she would end up back in prison"

"Jack", Juliet says calmly. "I promised you that we would help you, and we will. We can't change what happened that day on the island but maybe there is some way we can get Kate out of prison"

"And if she doesn't remember?" James asks.

"Doesn't matter if she remembers or not", replies Jack. "Everything that has happened since I dropped that hydrogen bomb down the shaft is because of me. I won't let her spend the rest of her life in prison"

Juliet can sense the growing tension in the room. "It's getting late", she says. "I'm going to tell Rachael that we are going to head out for the night."

She goes to stand, but feels James hand still in hers. "I'll be right back", she says flashing a look at him.

Reluctantly he gives up her hand and watches as she heads down the hallway to find Rachael.

There is an awkward silence between Sawyer and Jack when Juliet leaves the room. Finally it was James who speaks.

"She is really okay?" he asks looking down the hall towards where Juliet had walked.

He nods "I've spent the last couple of days with her. Other than some bumps and bruises she had no real injuries from her fall.

He sighs, relieved. "Like Juliet said, we'll do whatever we can to help you with Kate. I have connections", he says not wishing to elaborate much on his con man past. "It won't be easy, but it won't be impossible either"

Juliet tries to hide her yawn as she walks back into the living room. "Okay", she says. "I've said good night to Rachael. Ready to go?" she asks reaching her hand back to James. "You are welcome to stay at my house Jack", she says. "It's the least I can do for you considering you just jumped on a plane and flew to Miami with me"

He shakes his head. "Thanks for the offer", he says.

"But I think I will grab a hotel room. You two could probably stand the chance to spend some time alone"

Juliet picks up a piece of paper and a pen, jotting down her phone number and address and hands it to Jack. "We'll touch base in the morning then", she says, "and figure out how we are going to help Kate"

The three exit Rachael's house, James and Juliet watch as Jack heads off in a cab. "You ready", she asks.

"Absolutely", he says giving her a fully dimpled smile.


	13. Chapter 13

**Well here we go ;) This chapter has a little fluff. . you can't have enough fluff right? There are also a few subtle hints spread through this chapter of what's to come! Enjoy.**

**Chapter 13**

Twenty minutes later the cab driver pulls into Juliet's driveway. He could tell by her breathing pattern that she had nodded off, her head on his shoulder.

"We're here", he says lightly kissing her hand.

"Mm Hmm", she mumbles.

He hands the cab driver fare for their ride. Seeing her eyes were open he takes her hand and leads her from the cab. "Come on sleepy head, I think I need to tuck you into bed"

"I'm not tired", she says more awake now and giving him that grin of hers that always got him going.

"Ya right" he challenges her back.

She fumbles in her purse for her keys as they near the door. Finally she finds them and unlocks the door. Before they enter, he pulls her into his arms, kissing her passionately. He then lifts her into his arms and carry's her through the doorway.

She giggles. ."I can walk you know"

"I know", he laughs "I just want you close to me" he dips his head, kissing her again.

She wraps her arms around his neck, deepening the kiss between them.

When the kiss ends, he finally sets her back on her feet. She slides her hand across the wall and flips on the living room light. She sees the light on her answering machine blinking. After more than two weeks away she was sure it would be full. It could wait for tomorrow.

Glancing around the living room she notes that a few of her pictures on the fireplace mantle had been moved. She assumes that Rachael had been here, dusting while she had been away. She doesn't think anything further of it at this point, her concentration solely on the man standing in front of her.

She takes his hands in hers and looks into his eyes. "This is really happening right? When I wake up tomorrow, you are still going to be with me?"

"You're stuck with me forever", he says not taking his eyes off hers. "I love you Juliet"

"I love you back", she says sliding her arms around his back pulling her self closer to him.

"You thirsty or need anything to eat?" she asks. "I think I have beer in the fridge"

"Tempting", he smiles, not breaking eye contact with her. "But no, I'm good." He slides his fingers along her face, tucking her blonde locks behind her ears and kissing her forehead.

"Well then", she turns, so her back is towards him and wraps his arms around her waist leading him down the hall to the bedroom.

"Thought you said you weren't tired", he teases.

"I'm not", she says suggestively turning around again to face him and pulling him into a kiss.

"Well then", he says pulling from their kiss momentarily to pull her shirt over her head. He tosses it aside, and returns to kissing her, mumbling "I can think of something to occupy our time" he says trailing kisses down to her throat. She arches her neck back, giving a soft moan as he kisses her.

He leads her to the bed, laying her down....

*******************************************************

Her eyes fly open and she glances around the tiny cell. Her mind wanders over the past few days. Her days on the run were over, she had been caught and now she was caged up in this tiny cell.

The plane ride had been hell the whole thing had felt like a serious case of deja vu. She had this feeling that she had been caught in Australia before, been on that plane before. When the plane felt as though it was falling from the sky she had the feeling that had happened before too.

She shakes her head.

"You are being ridiculous Kate", she thinks to herself.

"There is no way any of this could have happened before. There is no way that the plane crashed the last time. . Or is there?" she wonders.

More alert now, she sits up on her cot and looks around her prison cell. She was thankful for the time being at least that she had the cell to herself. While life on the run hadn't been easy, she had never been more afraid than she was right now. Running obviously posed its certain strain of problems and heartache, but her only real fear had been getting caught and that unfortunately had now become her reality.

"You're finally awake", the US Marshal who had arrested her, Edward Mars says as he approaches her cell.

"Guess you were all tuckered out from all the running you have been doing over the past three years. You'll have lots of time for resting Kate", he says with a laugh.

"If I have anything to do with it, this tiny cell will be your home for the rest of you life."

Without giving her a chance to speak, he turns and walks away.

Kate watches as he walks away.

"Think Kate", she says to herself. "You are a smart girl, there has to be a way out of this."

Again she stretches out on the small uncomfortable cot. There was nothing she could do about her predicament at this particular moment. She needed to ride out this situation and figure out exactly what she was going to do. She couldn't stay in prison that much she knew. Somehow she needed to find a way out of this.

Her mind wanders to the good looking, shaggy blonde guy that she had seen looking at her on the first part of the flight from Sydney. He looked at her like her knew her. There were a few moments that she thought that maybe she knew him too, but she just couldn't place it. She had looked for him after they landed in Tahiti and again after the new plane had taken off for LA, but she hadn't been able to spot him.

"Where did you disappear too?" she wondered.

Rolling over onto her side she finally gives into the jet lag sleep that had been fighting her.

This time her dreams are taken over by a handsome dark haired stranger. They were on a beach and he was telling her a story.

"_I let fear in, I let it take over, let it do its thing but only for five seconds, that's all I was going to give it. So I started to count, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. Then it was gone."_

She gasps, and her eyes fly open once again and she sits bolt upright on the cot. "1, 2, 3, 4, 5" she says aloud...

"Jack"

*************************************************************************

After leaving Sawyer and Juliet he'd found a room at a nearby hotel. He had contemplated leaving them a voicemail saying he was headed back to LA. He had made sure that Juliet had made it safely back to Sawyer and he now felt the need to get back to Los Angeles and help Kate. He felt helpless being so far away from her, but at the same time he still didn't know how Kate would respond to him. They had so much history, she had always supported him and he didn't give a second thought to what would happen to her when things were reset after the bomb.

His mind wanders back to some of the last moments they had spent together on the island.

"_Are you with me on this?"_

"_Yes"_

Over and over in the past twenty- four hours he had replayed in his mind the look she had given him before he dropped the bomb down the shaft. Even with the belief that he was about to wipe away their memories of the previous three years, she had chosen in those last moments to look at him.

His thoughts wander further back in time to when they were on Penny's boat discussing their strategy for getting the rest of the Oceanic 6 to go along with their plan to lie about what happened after 815 crashed.

"_I have always been with you._" Her words ring through his head.

"How could I have been so wrong?" he wonders aloud.

"_All the misery we've been through we'd just wipe it clean, it'd have never happened"_

"_It was not all misery"_

"_Enough of it was_"

"Destiny", he says shaking his head as he gets up out of the chair.

"I wonder about second chances though", he says to himself, hearing Juliet's words.

"It seems like her and Sawyer have gotten a second chance, maybe that's what this cruel twist of fate is really all about, second chances"

He glances at the mini bar which had been staring at him since he walked into the hotel room a few hours earlier. It was taking all of his will power to keep the door shut and his hands off the alcohol.

"Not this time", he says to himself. "If this really is a second chance, that is one mistake I can do without."


	14. Chapter 14

**And onto Chapter 14 we go . . Here we have a little more fluff and a bit of other stuff. Hope people are still reading. Thanks to GencoOliveOil for you faithful reviewing, I appreciate it! This will likely be the last chapter you get for about a week. I'll say I'm sorry ahead of time for leaving the story hanging where it is ;).**

**Chapter 14**

Her first thought when she opened her eyes the next morning and found herself alone in the bed was that it had all been a dream. She could smell the scent of cooking bacon wafting into the bedroom from the kitchen. A smile spreads across her face. Of course he was up before she was.

Climbing out of bed, she pulls the robe from the chair putting it on she heads out of the bedroom following the smell of the cooking bacon.

"Smells good in here", she says, still smiling as she moves towards him.

"Good morning" he says turning to look at her, flashing a fully dimpled grin.

"I wondered if you were ever getting up!" He moves towards her, and wraps his arms around her when they meet, kissing her tenderly.

"Mmm", she says returning his kiss and then pulling away from him just slightly. "A girl could get use to waking up to breakfast cooking"

He laughs. "Good to see that things haven't changed in this life Blondie, you were never good with getting your own breakfast if it wasn't ready for you"

This time it was her turn to laugh, of course he was right. During their time in Dharma-Ville it became tradition for him to have breakfast ready for her when she got up. She hated to get up early and if there was nothing ready she would grab a coffee and just head off to the motor pool. With his job in security he was generally up and out of the house before she got up, and it never failed there was usually some sort of breakfast waiting for her on the table.

"Did you sleep well?" she asks.

"Better than I have in weeks. This time instead of dreaming about some beautiful mysterious blonde woman, she was live and in person sleeping next to me in the bed"

She can't help but laugh. "I can't believe this is really happening. It's so unreal"

"Believe it baby", he says pulling her into another kiss, this time more passionate than the previous.

She wraps her arms around his neck, returning his kisses.

Bacon forgotten on the stove, the smoke starts to billow up, setting off the smoke alarm. .

They both turn to look at the stove and he runs over to pull the burning bacon off the burner.

"I think your bacon's ready", she says giggling.

"Funny", he says turning to face her and gives her a smirk.

"It's okay, I like it burnt", she adds, trying to stifle her laughs.

"Crazy woman", he replies muttering under his breath as he returns his attention to cooking breakfast.

Leaving him to finish cooking, Juliet heads into the living room; she hits the button on the answering machine and sits on the edge of the couch to listen to the messages.

There were numerous messages from friends and one from her boss at the hospital wondering when and if she was planning to come back to work. Unbeknownst to her, the message that James had left her when he was in Tahiti was mysteriously absent from the machine. Grabbing the paper next to the phone she jots down a list of the calls that she eventually needs to return.

Once finished with the answering machine she remembers the pictures on the mantle were all out of place. Moving over to them, she rearranges them back to their original positions. She pauses on a picture of her and Rachael with Julian. She traces her fingers along their faces, remembering the day the photo had been taken. It is then she realizes that there is a missing picture of her and Julian.

"That's strange", she says aloud.

"What's strange?" James asks. He had been standing in the doorway watching her reminisce over the pictures.

She turns at the sound of his voice.

"I didn't hear you come in", she says.

"Just came to tell ya breakfast was ready. What's strange?" he asks moving next to her, glancing at the pictures.

"There is a picture missing", she says somewhat perplexed, turning back to face the pictures on the mantle. "Next to this picture of Rachael and I, there was a picture of me and Julian. It's gone"

"Rachael must have taken it", he says reassuringly, "no one else would have been in the house, right?"

She shrugs her shoulders.

"It must have been Rachael. I noticed last night when we came in that the pictures were out of place and I had assumed she had been here cleaning. Doesn't matter", she says trying to shake off her bad feeling. "I'll ask Rachael about it later"

She changes the topic.

"You were saying breakfast was ready, let's go eat. I seemed to have worked up quite an appetite." She turns and heads back to the kitchen.

He pauses a moment and watches her as she walks to the kitchen. She could hide her feelings from most, but not from him. He could tell she was more disturbed by the missing picture than she was saying. Not wanting to ruin their day, he decides to let it go for now, and follows her to the kitchen.

******************************************************

Despite a serious case of jet lag, Kate had gotten very little sleep through the night. Once her memory of Jack had returned, the memories from the rest of the past three years had all come tumbling back. The island, Jack, Sawyer, it had all happened.

"Sawyer must have remembered, that must be why he looked at me the way he did on the plane", she thinks to herself. "He was trying to find out if I remembered too." But why wasn't he on the flight from Tahiti to Los Angeles she wonders.

She closes her eyes, trying to envision all the passengers on the plane. "I don't remember Jack being on the plane", she says aloud.

"Pardon?" an officer walking by her cell asks, having heard her voice.

"Hmm?" says Kate moving towards the bars.

"I thought you asked a question", the officer responds.

"Just thinking out loud" she replies and then has an idea. "But you could do something for me", Kate replies.

"And just what is that?"

"I need to talk to Edward Mars", she tells the officer. She needed to talk to him again to see if he remembered anything from their other life, the crash and what happened afterwards.

He shakes his head.

"Not gonna happen", he replies

"What do you mean it's not gonna happen", Kate asks confused.

"He has been obsessed with finding me for three years, I'm sure if you tell him I want to talk to him he will come"

"Listen lady", he continues. "I probably shouldn't tell you this, but you can't talk to Edward Mars because he died of a massive heart attack last night after he left here"

Kate face goes pale and she sinks down onto her cot. .

"You alright Ms Austen?" the officer asks watching her sink to the cot.

"I need to make my phone call", she replies barely above a whisper. "I'm entitled to a phone call right?"

***********************************************************************8

During his sleepless night, Jack had come up with the beginnings of a plan.

The next morning he had taken his coffee and the newspaper out onto his hotel balcony. The balcony overlooked the water, and this morning he needed the calming effect that the water seemed to be bringing to him these past few days.

The front page of the paper had a story about the miraculous recovery of Oceanic Air Flight 815. Reading through the article he thinks to himself. "At least part of the plan worked the way it was suppose too, 815 landed safely and all those people that died are now alive"

At the end of the 815 article, there was a small article about the capture of fugitive Kate Austen. Accompanying the article was a picture of Kate in handcuffs being escorted by the US Marshal. He didn't want to read the article but felt somewhat obliged too. He was responsible for what Kate was going through. He touches the picture gently, his fingers brushing Kate's cheek.

Glancing over his shoulder he looks inside at the clock. It was finally late enough that people would be starting to get to work in Los Angeles.

Getting up he heads back inside. He tosses the newspaper on the bed and goes to pick up the phone. He dials the phone number.

"I need to speak to Edward Mars please" he says into the phone when a woman picks up.

"I'm sorry", she says. "That isn't possible"

"This is his office isn't it? What time do you expect him to get in today? I can call back"

"I'm sorry sir you won't be able to speak to Edward because he passed away last night. I can direct you to his supervisor though if your call is directly related to one of the cases he was working on"

"Umm, that's alright", Jack says unable to hide the shock from his voice.

"I will call back later", he says hanging up the phone not waiting for the woman to respond. He sinks down into the chair next to him, unsure what to think.


	15. Chapter 15

**This chapter sort of feels like a little bit of filler to me, but I needed to try to move things along. Hopefully its not too boring. I'm working on chapter 16 now. Have been away all week and ready to get writing again :). Please keep reviewing, they help motivate me to write.**

**Chapter 15**

Hearing the knock at the door, Sawyer gets up off the couch to go answer it. From the sound of the water running in the bathroom, he could tell Juliet was still in the shower.

He was expecting Jack, and is surprised to find Rachael on the other side of the door.

"Hey", he says stepping aside to let her in.

"Hey back", she says walking past him into the house.

"Where's Jules?"

"In the shower", he replies

"Ah", she says sitting down on the couch. Part of her was shocked that he was still here, in Juliet's house. Everything about this situation was so foreign to her. But then again, everything that had happened in the past three weeks should have told her that life was going to be different now.

Over and over during the night she had replayed the scene on the dock of her sister reuniting with the man now sitting across from her. She had never witnessed Juliet so at ease with a man. Even in her marriage to Edmund she always seemed uncomfortable. But there on the dock she had melted into this strange man's arms, and she knew from there on out things were going to be different. Part of her was angry that this stranger knew so much about her sister that she didn't know. Another part of her was thankful that Juliet seemed (even if by unbelievable means) to have found her one true love. But despite the fact that she knew Juliet loved this man, she didn't have to automatically accept him into their lives without first forming her own opinion.

Shifting uncomfortably on the couch she decides throw some questions at the man sitting across from her. "So where is it that you call home James? Are you from LA?"

He knew eventually these questions would come. How would he tell her about himself without her getting the wrong opinion? Who he was now was the not the same man that he was three weeks ago.

"I am actually between places right now. Home now is wherever Juliet is now", he trails off.

Seeing the sceptical look on her face he continues without giving her the chance to reply.

"Look Rachael, I don't want you to get the wrong opinion. I admit, if you go looking into my past you'll find out that I was a no good kind of guy, and if I were you I wouldn't want me anywhere close to your sister. But, I'm not that guy anymore. To the outside world the island didn't happen, but for me, Juliet and Jack it did. The man that I am right now, sitting her in front of you isn't the same one you would hear about if you went looking for information on me"

She holds up her hand to stop him. "Up until three weeks ago I would have said that I know my sister better than anyone."

"But now", she shrugs, unsure what interjecting her opinion would even matter at this point. "Since our parents got divorced Juliet and I have always looked out for one another. I just want to make sure that she's okay. But, even if I tried to talk Juliet out of seeing you, I doubt that at this point that was even possible. But that doesn't mean I won't continue to look out for her"

"Rach, you don't have to worry I'm fine", Juliet says walking into the tail end of the conversation. Seeing the look of desperation on James' face she can tell she got there just about the right time.

Both Rachael and James turn to the sound of her voice.

"Thanks", he mouths at her as she takes a seat on the couch beside him.

She places her hand over top on his, giving it an encouraging squeeze.

"Honest Rach, you don't have to worry about me"

"You are my baby sister Juliet that gives me every right to worry about you"

"Jack's not here yet?" Juliet asks hoping to switch the subject. "I figured he would have been here by now. He was pretty keyed up about something when he called to say he was on his way"

"What happens now?" Rachael finally asks.

It was Juliet's turn to shrug her shoulders. "We don't know yet. We promised Jack we would help him out with finding out if one of the others on the plane remembers. It's complicated"

Rachael nods, "Yeah, I'm getting that"

There is another knock at the door.

"I'll get it", James says jumping up eager to leave the building tension in the room even for a few moments. "Should be the doc" he says heading out of the living room to the front door.

Rachael gets up off the couch. "Guess I'll head out. I have a bunch of stuff I need to do today. I just wanted to check in and make sure you were okay"

Juliet moves closer to her sister and wraps her arms around her. "I'm fine Rachael. Please, try not to worry.

Rachael returns the hug. "Please Jules just promise me that you'll keep me in the loop. Promise me you aren't going to leave. . ", she trails off.

"Honey, I'm not going anywhere. I don't know exactly what is going to happen but I don't have any intention of leaving you"

Rachael sighs, she can only hope that Juliet can keep her promises.

"I'll call you later", she says pulling away from Juliet and heading towards the door.

"Wait, Rach", she stops her. "The picture of Julian and I that was on the mantle, did you move it somewhere?"

Rachael gives Juliet a confused look. "I didn't touch it, why?" she asks.

It was Juliet's turn to be confused, "No reason, it wasn't there this morning. I just assumed you had been over cleaning and moved it." She shrugs her shoulders. "Guess I must have moved it"

"See you later", Juliet says as Rachael exits the room. She looks back over at the mantle where the picture should have been sitting. "I know I didn't move that, I wonder where it is", she says talking to herself.

Rachael is replaced in the living room by James and Jack.

"Hi Jack", she says as they all sit down.

"So what did you want to tell us Doc? You sounded pretty stirred up on the phone"

"Edward Mars is dead" he replies. Juliet gives him a confused look.

"The US Marshal, the guy that tracked down and arrested Kate? Died on the island?" James asks for clarification.

"Yup" replies Jack, "I called to see if I could talk to him about Kate. All I was told was that he died last night"

"What the hell" replies James. "The guy dies on the island and then shortly after surviving 815 he dies anyways?"

"Seems that way", Jack replies. He continues before either of them can speak. "I have booked a flight back to Los Angeles, it leaves tonight. I'm going to try to talk to Kate's mother. She is the reason Kate's in prison. She's the state's only witness. Three years ago", he stops for a moment and clarifies himself.

"When this happened the last time, after we came back it was Kate's mom refusing to testify that got Kate off. I think she's the key to getting Kate off"

"What time is our flight?" Juliet asks.

"Blondie", James says looking at her. "You don't have to do this you know. The doc has this under control"

"Juliet, Sawyer's right. I can do this on my own. You guys stay here, after I find out what Kate remembers I'll touch base with you"

The promise she had made to Rachael just a short time ago runs through her mind. "Sorry Rach", she thinks to herself. "I have to do this"

She shakes her head. "We are coming Jack, we made you a promise. You helped me get back to James, and we are going to help you get Kate out of prison"

"Alright then", he finally consents. "Flights at 8:30, I'll meet you at the airport"

With that Jack gets up. "I can show myself out. I'll see you later"

*********************

Hours after Jack leaves, James finds Juliet searching around the house for something.

"What'cha looking for?" he asks.

Distracted, she doesn't hear his question and continues to sift through the mail pile on her desk.

"Hey" he says touching her arm.

"Oh" she says turning to look at him, "did you ask me something?"

"I asked what you were looking for" he says giving her a concerned look.

"The picture that is missing off the mantle, I asked Rachael earlier and she said she hadn't touched the pictures. I figured I must have moved it, but I don't remember moving it"

He looks around the room. "Is anything else out of place that you can tell?"

She shakes her head. "I don't think so"

"Good, you probably just misplaced it. Lord knows the past few weeks you've had other stuff on your mind. Besides", he continues, "why would anyone break in here and just take a picture?"

He pulls her into his arms and gives her a reassuring hug.

"You're probably right", she says still not able to completely shake her bad feeling. She had spent three years as an Other and her skills of perception had increased ten fold. There was more to the missing picture she just couldn't explain why she felt that way.

He keeps his arms protectively around her. "What did Rachael say when you told her we were going to LA"

She looks up into his eyes. "She was mad as hell. I promised her this morning I wasn't going to go away again, and then I turned around and told her we were going to LA"

"We don't have to go you know. Jack has it under control"

"We need to go. We need to sort this entire mess out in order to put the island behind us and move on with our life"

"Alright then", he says. "Let's go pack. We need to meet Jack at the airport in two hours"


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

Twenty four hours later the trio is standing outside the home of Diane Janssen, Kate's mother.

"Did you get a chance to see Kate?" Juliet asks Jack as they approach the door.

"Nope, they wouldn't let me visit. Her arraignment is later today. She was with her appointed public defender so they said no visitors"

"Well hopefully this will work then", James says raising his hand and knocking on the door.

A few moments later the door is opened and Kate's mother Diane steps into view.

She looks to the trio standing in her doorway.

"Good Morning Mrs. Janssen. My name is Dr. Jack Shephard and these are my friends Dr. Juliet Burke and James Ford. We are hoping to have a few moments of your time. We'd like to talk to you about Kate"

She gives them a confused look. "I'm sorry" she says "if you want to talk about my daughter you need to go through my lawyer", she says stepping back, putting her hands back on the door to close it.

James steps forward placing his hand on the door, stopping her from closing it.

"We ain't done here yet"

"I think you misunderstood the reason we are here", Juliet says in her calming voice while stepping forward placing a hand on James' chest.

"We are friends of Kate's, we are only here to try and help her"

Diane steps forward again.

"If you are 'friends' of my daughter, you are aware of what she has done. I'm not sure what you hope to accomplish by coming here today"

"You can't testify against your daughter" Jack says stepping forward now. "You are the only witness the state has against Kate. Without your testimony can go free"

Diane is surprised at the boldness of these people whom she had never before laid eyes on.

"I don't know what Katherine did to get you people to come here today, but my daughter as much as admitted to me that she murdered her father in cold blood."

"Whatever it is or isn't that Kate has done Mrs Janssen is irrelevant now, there are things going on here that you don't understand" Jack pleads.

"Let us in, give me ten minutes to plead my case, and then I promise we'll leave you alone"

"Why are you doing this?" Diane asks, looking at Jack.

He pauses a moment before speaking, "Because I love your daughter" he replies, admitting for the first time since he had remembered his past that he really did in fact still love Kate.

Diane steps aside, letting the trio inside her house. "You have ten minutes."

*************************************

Kate face goes pale and she sinks down onto her cot. .

"You alright Ms Austen?" the officer asks watching her sink to the cot.

"I need to make my phone call", she replies barely above a whisper. "I'm entitled to a phone call right?"

"I'll see what I can do", the officer said leaving her alone.

When he had disappeared from view she thought about what he had just told her. "How could Edward be dead? She wondered. None of this made any sense, they weren't supposed to remember and everyone that died was supposed to have been saved.

A short while later the officer returned. "It's your lucky day, you get that phone call" he says opening up her cell. He pulls his handcuffs off his belt. "You have to wear these though" he says putting them onto her wrists.

He leads her into another room where a phone was set up. "You have one call" he tells her. "So you better make it count. There will be a public defender here for you for your arraignment tomorrow, unless you have a lawyer."

She picks up the phone there was only one person she had the desire to call. What were the chances that Jack would have the same number he did in the past, or was that the future she wondered. She debated calling her mother but knew that would get her nowhere. She was stuck, she really had no choice.

Instead of calling his home she takes her chances elsewhere.

"St. Sebastian's Hospital, how may I help you?" she hears the switchboard attendant ask when they finally pick up.

"Dr. Jack Shephard", Kate replies. "I need to be put through to his office please"

"Just a moment please" the attendant says putting her through to Jack's office.

She knew it was a long shot that he'd pick up, and wasn't surprised when she got nothing but the answering machine.

She hadn't really entirely thought this through but had to give it a shot. She knew eventually he'd return to work.

"Jack, its Kate", she says her voice slightly wavering.

"I don't know if you remember, but I do. If you do remember you'll know where to find me. I need you Jack. . ", she says trailing off.

The officer motions that she needs to wrap it up. She reluctantly hangs up the phone and is led back to her cell.

*******************************************************

Sitting in his rented vehicle at the edge of the preschool playground, Ben looks at the picture in his hand. Glancing down at the little blonde boy in the photo he looks up and scans the playground, finally laying eyes on the little boy.

He had initially hoped that he could get to Juliet before she had remembered. After the flash the timeline on the island had gone completely whacky. Because of whatever had happened to cause the flash, Juliet had never been brought to the island, but he needed her. He remembered everything, despite the fact that most of the others had not. He needed her to come. Jacob had told him there was only one way to put everything right again. They all needed to come back if the island was to be saved, but it was only Juliet he needed. He looks back at the little boy playing on the swings. The little boy would be the ticket to getting to Juliet.

********************************************************************

"You really expect me to believe this ludicrous story", Diane says dumbfounded, looking at the three strangers sitting in her kitchen. "Plane crashes, time travel" she shakes her head, "Erasing timelines; it just makes absolutely no sense"

Having really gotten nowhere with convincing Kate's mother not to testify against her, Jack decided he was going to tell the truth. He told her of the story of the first Flight 815, the crash on the island and everything that happened after that date.

"Nothing that has happened to any of us seems to make any sense. I know it sounds completely ridiculous Mrs. Janssen, but it's true. The island is very real for each of us"

Juliet interjects with her calming voice. "There is no way for us to prove our story is true Mrs. Janssen. So the way I see it is you have two choices. You can either going to choose to believe us and refuse to testify against your daughter, or you can choose not to believe us, and send your daughter to prison for the rest of her life."

Throughout most of the conversation James had stayed quiet but he now felt the need to interject, "the way we see it you are now in control over what happens to Kate. But know that if you do choose to testify, somehow we are getting her out of that prison. She has already paid a heavy enough price for her so called 'crimes".

Diane shakes her head, this was all so unreal. There is no way any what they were saying could have happened.

"I think it's time for all of you to leave", she says standing up. "You've had more than your ten minutes"

The trio stand up, and it is Jack who speaks. "We do thank you for hearing us out. Despite all the mistakes I have made, I do love your daughter and somehow I plan to make sure she knows that"

Diane walks them to the door, after a quick goodbye she watches the three head back to their car. She shakes her head and turns walking back to her kitchen. Flipping on the television she shaken by the breaking news report...

"_By now, the story of the miraculous recovery of Oceanic Flight 815 from Sydney Australia to Los Angeles California is old news. What seemed like a miracle though is quickly turning to tragedy. In the few days it has been since Flight 815 successfully landed in Tahiti and its passengers were transported to Los Angeles on another flight, it has come to light that a number of the passengers have died under tragic circumstances. Was Flight 815 cursed, will more of the passengers succumb to death? _

_Here is an updated list of those who survived Flight 815, only to die shortly after their plane landed in Los Angeles._

_United States Marshal, Edward Mars who successfully captured fugitive Kate Austen succumbed to a massive heart attack the night the Oceanic 815 passengers successfully arrived back in Los Angeles._

_Boone Carlyle and Shannon Rutherford lost their lives when the car they were passengers in was involved in a motor vehicle collision on the way home from the airport._

_Ana Lucia Cortez a valued member of the LAPD died of smoke inhalation when her house caught fire the night she returned to Los Angeles._

_Charlie Pace, a member of the band Drive Shaft was found unconscious in his hotel room the day after Flight 815. It is suspected he overdosed on heroin. He is currently in critical condition at St. Sebastian's hospital_

_Stay tuned for more on this developing story of the Curse of Oceanic Air Flight 815."_

"What the hell", she thinks to herself looking at the faces of Flight 815 passengers as they flash across the screen. "There's no way", she says aloud, shaking her head. "No way that that crazy story could be true"

Still shaking her head she flips off the television and goes to get ready for Kate's arraignment.


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17 (The next three chapters are started with lyrics from the song: Because you live by Jesse McCartney)**

_Staring out at the rain with a heavy heart  
It's the end of the world in my mind  
Then your voice pulls me back like a wake up call  
I've been looking for the answer  
Somewhere  
I couldn't see that it was right there  
But now I know what I didn't know_

Because you live and breathe  
Because you make me believe in myself when nobody else can help  
Because you live, girl  
My world has twice as many stars in the sky

Back in the car, Jack turns to James and Juliet.

"I think that went better than we thought it would. I think we got her thinking if nothing else."

"I hope it's enough. If she chooses to testify against Kate, then I don't think there is anything we are gonna to be able to do to get her out", James replies.

Leaning forward, James flips on the radio...

"_Breaking News"_, they hear the DJ announce...

When the DJ starts to discuss _'The Curse of Oceanic Air Flight 815'_ each of their attention is turned to what the announcer is saying.

"Son of a Bitch", James says at the end of the story. .

"Nothing changed", Jack states, his tone defeated.

"They are dying anyways. Nothing that Dan said was going to happen is happening"

"What do you think this means?" asks Juliet.

James shrugs his shoulders, turning to look at Juliet. "Whatever happens I'm with you" he says looking her in the eyes, although not sure he understood why he felt the need to say it. "You know that right?"

She nods her head, not taking her eyes off his. "I know"

The final part of the announcement was about Charlie. Jack pulls into a lot and turns the car around.

"Where you headin' now? Thought we were going to the courthouse?" James asks.

"St. Sebastian's, where they said Charlie is, that's where I work. Kate's arraignment isn't for another few hours. We have time"

The vehicle which had been following them for the past twenty four hours also pulls into a lot, and turns around and continues to follow them.

*******************************************************************

"Where are you taking me?" Kate asks the bailiff as she is led away from the courtroom to another room.

"There's someone that wants to talk to you before your arraignment", he replies

She looks at him confused she had no clue who it could be. Maybe Jack she wondered.

When the door opens and the person turns around she is face to face with her mother.

"I don't need to speak with her", Kate says turning back to the bailiff, "I can wait in my cell"

"Katie please", her mother says stepping towards her. "Just give me a few minutes"

She wondered why she should give her mother the time of day now, all those times she had tried to see her over the past three years and her mother had wanted no part of it. She pauses, and then finally turns back to face her mom.

"Alright", she finally consents.

Shutting her into the room with the mother, the bailiff turns and walks away.

"What do you want mom?" Kate asks when they are alone. "Why do you suddenly want to talk to me now?"

Kate's mother takes a step closer to her. "I had company this morning", she begins. "Three people said they were friends of yours. A Dr. Jack Shepard, Dr. Juliet Burke and a James Ford"

Kate grasps the back of the chair, to keep her standing.

"They remember", she whispers. .

Diane didn't miss her daughter's words and takes another step to close the gap between her and Kate.

"And you do too, I'm guessing", she replies to Kate's whisper.

Kate looks at her mother confused. "But, how?" she asks.

"They came to my house this morning to plead your case to me, asked me not to testify against you. Told me this completely bogus story about your plane crashing on some crazy island."

Kate can't believe any of this is happening. Putting her head down, she puts her hands to her forehead, all of the events of the past few days were taking a toll on her.

Feeling her mother's hand on her arm, she moves her hands away from her face and looks into her mother's eyes.

"It's true mom, all of it"

They are interrupted by the bailiff entering the room. "Time's up, it's time to take you to the courtroom"

"I'm ready", Kate sighs still not taking her eyes off her mother's.

"Wait", says Diane before the bailiff can fully lead Kate away. "One of them, Dr. Shephard, he says he loves you, do you love him?"

Kate's heart sinks, so much had happened.

"Yes", she finally replies, "Yes I do love him"

When she finally turns to go she hears her mother's voice behind her, "I love you too Katherine"

********************************************************

Jack, James and Juliet arrived at the hospital twenty minutes later. Jack headed in first wanting to make a pit stop at his office before finding Charlie. He left Juliet and James standing outside.

"Blondie you comin' in?" James asks Juliet seeing her hanging back outside the hospital door.

"In a minute", she replies.

"You alright?" he asks, noting she was looking a bit tired and pale.

"Yeah", she replies. "Just have a bit of a headache, probably just jetlag"

"You sure?" he asks, touching her cheek.

She smiles, "Don't worry so much, it's just a headache"

"Maybe we should ask Jack to take a look at you, just to be safe."

"James honestly", she says exasperated. "It's just a headache, I just want a bit of fresh air then I'll come in. Go in, find Charlie I'll meet you in there. Besides, I should call and check in with Rachael"

*****************************************8

As he walked towards Charlie's room, Kate's words on his answering machine cycled through his head "_Jack, its Kate_"

She remembered, he wasn't sure if that reassured him or not. She remembered and she was stuck in prison. It suddenly became all that more important to ensure that she got out.

Lost in thought he didn't see as he walked right into someone.

"Hey watch where you are headed dude" he hears a familiar voice say.

He looks up and is shocked at who'd he'd run into, "Hurley?"

"Jack?" replies Hurley. "Dude, it's really you" he says throwing his arms around Jack.

"Yeah Hurley, it's really me" he says with a chuckle when he gets free of Hurley's grasp.

"You remember then right Jack? I'm really not going crazy"

"You're not crazy Hurley" he says reassuringly, "I remember and so do some of the others"

Hurley looks at him confused.

"Sawyer and Juliet are outside, Kate's stuck in jail but she remembers too"

"Juliet's here? She's not stuck on the island?"

"Long story Hurley", Jack says. "What are you doing here anyways?"

"Charlie", replies Hurley. "He was all over the news, I needed to come and see for myself. Only they won't give me any information"

Jack glances at the ICU doors. "Give me a few minutes I'll go see what I can find out. Wait here"

Hurley sits in the waiting room chair to wait for Jack to return.

***************************************************************************

Kate glances around the courtroom as she is led in. She had hoped he would be there, but isn't surprised when she can't find his face among those sitting on the benches.

"I'm sure this will be pretty quick" her public defender leans over and whispers in her ear. "We'll try for bail but I can't make any promises"

"I know", replies Kate.

When the judge enters and takes his seat, the prosecuting attorney asks to approach the bench.

"What do you think he's doing?" Kate asks the public defender sitting next to her.

The public defender shrugs her shoulders, "Don't know"

In a few moments the prosecuting attorney returns to his seat.

"Miss Austen", the judge says directing his attention at Kate. "Please stand"

Kate does as the judge directs.

"Miss Austen, it seems that the state is dismissing its case against you"

"What?" she asks shocked.

"Unfortunately Miss Austen, the prosecutions' main witness is no longer willing to testify against you. Which means, for now you are free to go", the judge says. "I have to tell you though Miss Austen, I'm not happy with the turn of events here. You spent three years running from the law instead of owning up to your mistakes. If I ever see or hear of you in my courtroom again, if the state is able to pursue its case against you, I will throw the book at you. For now though, you are free to leave"

"But I don't understand", Kate whispers to her public defender.

"Just a moment", the public defender says going over to the prosecutor. Kate watches as they whisper back and forth for a few moments. Her public defender then returns to their table.

"Your mother retracted her story", she tells Kate. "Said she was wrong, that there was no way that you could have murdered Wayne."

"What happens now?" Kate asks.

"Essentially the state doesn't have a case against you without their witness. At this point, they reserve the right to pursue the case in the future if you mom chooses to testify"

"But for now, like the judge said, you are free to go"

Kate looks around the courtroom she had expected to be returned to her prison cell, with no hope of getting off, but here she was a free woman.

"Thank you", Kate says placing her hand into the hand of her public defender.

"Don't thank me", she says. "I didn't do anything this was all in your mother's hands"

"And I think in a few others as well", Kate replies cryptically.

The public defender shakes her hand one last time, and the pair walks out of the court room together.

"Where are you headed now?" her public defender asks.

"There are some people I need to find, some old friends are in town. I wasn't sure I'd ever see them again.

"Go then", she says, "Don't keep them waiting"

With that Kate heads off, leaving the courthouse. She is somewhat unsure of the latest curveball that her life seems to have sent her.

"Where are you Jack?" she wonders aloud.

************************************************************************************************************

******Meanwhile outside the hospital*****

"Alright" he laughs, "I'll go inside." He leans in and kisses her on the forehead. "I'll see you in there"

He turns to head back into the hospital.

Juliet watches him walk away and then turns to head towards the benches to sit down.

Across the laneway the vehicle that had been following them begins to speed up.

James turns when he hears the screeching of tires and the screams of bystanders yelling for Juliet to look out. He turns in time to see Juliet get hit by the fast moving vehicle. One moment he sees her walking towards the bench, in the next the car hits her, sending her body up over the windshield and then rolling back down again.

"Juliet" he screams his heart pounding as he runs towards her. The tires of the car screech again as the driver backs it up, and pulls away speeding off into the distance.

Ignoring the car, his sole focus was on the lifeless body of the woman he loved, lying on the ground.


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

_It's alright, I survived, I'm alive again  
Cuz of you, made it through every storm  
What is life, what's the use if you're killing time  
I'm so glad I found an angel  
Someone  
Who was there when all my hopes fell  
I wanna fly, looking in your eyes_

Because you live and breathe  
Because you make me believe in myself when nobody else can help  
Because you live, girl  
My world has twice as many stars in the sky  
Because you live, I live

"Somebody go and get Dr. Shephard", he screams at the crowd as he reaches her side, falling to the ground beside her.

Some doctors and nurses from the nearby emergency room were starting to push their way through the crowd. "I'm sorry sir, you need to step away", one of the nurses says grabbing his arm to pull him away from Juliet.

"Get your hands off me man" he says angrily, pushing the nurse back.

"Sir, you need to step away so that we can help her" one of the doctors says glancing away momentarily from Juliet, and looking at James.

James was unaware of the tears springing from his eyes as he looked at Juliet. The sight of her scared the hell out of him, she looked terrible. "Oh God, please, save her", he says backing up slightly, giving them room to work on her.

More hospital staff continues to pour onto the scene, a collar was put onto Juliet's neck and she was placed onto a back board. A gurney is brought out to the scene and she is carefully placed onto it and moved into the emergency room.

Following closely behind James is met by a door as they rush her into the trauma room.

"I'm sorry sir", one of the nurses says approaching him. "You can't go in there"

"Please" he says pleadingly, looking through the window at her and watching the doctors try to stabilize her. "I need to stay with her"

"Your wife is in good hands sir. This is the best trauma centre in Los Angeles" she says placing a hand on his arm.

"I need you to do me a favour", James says taking his eyes off Juliet for a moment and looking at the nurse. "Dr. Jack Shephard he's a friend of ours, he's upstairs right now in the ICU checking on someone. Please, you need to get him for me. I want him in there with Juliet"

"I'll see what I can do", she says turning to walk away.

He turns back towards the window, watching as the team worked on Juliet.

*******************  
"Dr. Shephard", one of the nurses says approaching him.

"Yes?" he asks, lifting his eyes off Charlie's chart and looking at the young nurse.

"One of the nurses from the emergency room called up looking for you. You need to go downstairs there was some kind of accident"

"I'm not actually on duty", he replies.

"I know", she says. "But you are being requested by the patient's husband. He said he was a friend of yours"

Jack looks at the nurse confused. "Who's the patient?" he asks.

"I'm not sure of her name, but there was some kind of accident out in the parking lot. A woman was hit by a car, in an apparent hit and run"

"It can't be", Jack says, turning to run out of the ICU. "Juliet? Was that her name? " he asks the nurse as he turns.

"Might have been", she replies.

He runs past Hurley. "Come with me Hurley. Something has happened I need to get the emergency room"

Hurley gets up quickly from his chair, following Jack towards the elevator.

"How's Charlie?" he asks breathlessly.

"Holding his own", Jack says swiping his emergency card through the elevator, to get them to the emergency room quicker.

When the doors to the elevator open, he sees Sawyer looking devastated; standing outside the trauma room. His heart sinks, it had to be Juliet.

"What happened?" he asks running towards him.

"Jack, you have to save her" Sawyer says motioning towards the trauma room. "Car came out of nowhere; son of a bitch hit her and took off"

Jack looks through the window into the trauma room his heart sinks at the chaos happening in the room, and his friend's lifeless body on the table.

He touches Sawyer's arm and pushes open the door to the trauma room.

"Give it to me", he says to the team working on Juliet.

*****************************

After Jack disappears into the room, Sawyer notices Hurley standing off to the side.

"Hugo" he says shocked at his sudden appearance.

"Sawyer" Hurley says approaching him. "What the heck happened man?" he asks.

Sawyer motions towards the window. "Juliet's in there, some bastard hit her with his car and took off"

"What are you doing here?" Sawyer asks, not taking his eyes off Juliet.

"I remembered the island, heard about Charlie and had to come down here and see if he is okay"

"And is he?" Sawyer asks without much emotion.

"Jack says he thinks they got to him in time. His vital signs are strong, just have to wait it out and see if he wakes up"

The pair both turn back to the window to watch what was going on in the trauma room.

A few moments later they hear a female voice behind them. "Sawyer? Hugo?"

James closes his eyes and slowly turns, he knew that voice.

"Freckles" he says moving towards her.

She moves closer to him, wrapping her arms around him in a tight hug.

"What wrong James", she asks.

"It's Juliet", is all he says before breaking down.

Over his shoulder Kate can see the action happening in the trauma room.

Her eyes fall on Jack, "She'll be okay" she says trying to reassure him. "Jack won't let anything happen to her"

"I hope you're right Freckles"

"What are you doing here?" he asks a few moments later. "We were coming to the courthouse to help you"

"Seems you already helped me", she says. "By talking to my mom, she changed her story, refused to testify against me. I'm free", she trails off.

The doors to the trauma room push open again, this time with the medical team pushing Juliet on the stretcher. James goes to move towards her and is held back by Jack's arm.

Kate has stepped back out of the way and Jack doesn't notice she is there.

"Where are they taking her doc?" Sawyer asks Jack.

"We need to take her up to the OR" Jack replies. "She has some internal bleeding that we can't find the source of we need to get it stopped"

"Tell me she's gonna be okay doc"

"Sawyer, we are doing everything we can"

"I need to see her for a minute", James says glancing at the stretcher.

Jack calls over to the nurses pushing the stretcher. "Let her husband see her for a moment" he tells them.

James moves to Juliet's side, and Jack spies Kate standing in the corner.

"Kate" he says surprised.

"Jack" she says moving towards him.

They meet in the middle of the hallway, arms wrapped around each other. He kisses her softly.

"How is this possible" he asks. "How did you get here?"

"My mom", she says quickly. "She refused to testify, I'm free"

Arriving at Juliet, James leans down kissing her lips softly. He was struck by how cool she felt.

"Oh Jules" he says softly, brushing a blonde hair off her forehead. "Don't do this Blondie. This isn't supposed to be happening."

He touches her hand and feels her fingers move slightly in response to his touch.

"I'm sorry sir", the nurse says as the elevator door opens. "We need to get her upstairs"

The nurse start to move the stretcher into the elevator and he lets go of her hand only when he is forced to.

"I love you Juliet" he calls after her as the door closes.

Out of the corner of his eye, Jack sees the elevator door close.

"I'm sorry Kate", he says, "I need to go with her"

She nods her head.

"Go" she tells him.

"I love you Kate...", he says as he turns and runs towards the elevator.

"I love you back Jack" she replies just as the elevator door shuts, separating them again.

When Jack disappears from view, Kate and Hurley approach Sawyer.

She touches his hand to bring him out of his trance. "Let's go upstairs to wait" she says softly.

"We have a lot to catch up on"

Sawyer allows himself to be led into the open elevator. They arrive on the third floor and are directed to the OR waiting room.

**********************************

During the next six hours, Kate, Hurley and Sawyer sat and waited. For Sawyer it felt like the longest six hours of his life. He couldn't have found her again only to lose her again. Fate couldn't be that cruel.

Both Kate and Hurley had tried to keep him distracted by telling him about how they each had remembered.

For Hurley, when he'd read the news about Charlie on the front page of the paper everything that had happened on the island came tumbling back to him.

They were interrupted once by a pair of officers who'd come to investigate the crash. James was able to relay only a few details of the car that had hit Juliet. The officers were able to tell him that numerous bystanders had seen the crash and been able to give details of both vehicle and the driver. There were numerous officers now on the hunt.

Three hours after the crash he had broken down and called Rachael. He dreaded the phone call, he knew Rachael would blame him but he didn't care. He'd promised he'd look after her and then this had happened. Rachael had hung up the phone with her voice threatening tears, saying her and Julian were on the next flight to Los Angeles.

Finally Jack had emerged from the operating room. Sawyer, James and Hurley all stood as he walked towards them.

"Doc", James says as he approaches them. "Is she okay?" he asks unable to tell by the look on Jack's face.

He nods his head, and James lets go of the breath he had been holding. He touches James arm, leading him away from Kate and Hurley. "I need to talk to you alone for a moment"

"If she is alright Doc, there is no harm in them hearing"

"Sawyer, please", Jack says "Just for a moment"

Sawyer consents and moves away from Kate and Hurley, accompanied by Jack.

"What is it Doc? You said she was okay"

"Sawyer, overall Juliet was lucky. Her right leg was broken in two places and she had fractures in her right wrist. The orthopaedic team was able to get the fractures realigned and stabilized."

"That doesn't sound too bad", James says feeling somewhat relieved.

Jack says touching his arm again. "She had significant trauma to her abdomen, when we went in to stop it", he pauses.

"Just tell me Doc"

"She was pregnant Sawyer", he says finally saying it.

James looks at him confused, "Pregnant?"

Jack nods again, "I'm sorry Sawyer we weren't able to save the baby. There was just too much damage"

James leans back against the wall. "We didn't know" he trails off.

"The obstetrician guessed she was approximately 15 weeks along, they were able to stop the bleeding and repair the damage"

"The island" James says "She must have been pregnant on the island and then she fell." He runs his fingers through his hair. "Damn, how could we not have known?"

"Life hasn't exactly been easy for the past few weeks, or months for that matter", Jack says. "I didn't figure it out either and I've been with her for the majority of the past few weeks. Other than being tired, she really hadn't had any other symptoms as far as I can tell"

"When can I see her", James asks.

"She is just being settled in the ICU right now", Jack says after a few moments. "You can go in to see her in about fifteen minutes." He puts his hand back on Sawyer's arm. "I can tell her if you want."

He considers Jack's proposal for a moment. He wasn't sure how he was going to do it, but it had to come from him. "Thanks doc, but I'll do it"

They are interrupted by the sound of Jack's beeper and an announcement over the overhead paging system.

"Code Blue ICU, Code Blue ICU"

Glancing down at his pager Jack turns quickly and takes off running back towards the ICU. Kate and Hurley move toward Sawyer whose face had paled, and was looking like he could collapse to the ground. They each grab an arm to support him upright.


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19**

_Because you live there's a reason why  
I carry on when I lose the fight  
I want to give what you've given me always_

Because you live and breathe  
Because you make me believe in myself when nobody else can help  
Because you live, girl  
My world has twice as many stars in the sky

Because you live and breathe  
Because you make me believe in myself when nobody else can help  
Because you live, girl  
My world has everything I need to survive

Because you live, I live, I live

Ben had been watching Rachael and Julian for about a week and had been about to make his move on Julian when the child's mother had dashed out of the house with suitcase and child in tow.

He had followed behind them at a cautious distance and was surprised when she pulled into the airport.

"Where are they going" he wonders parking the car and continuing his pursuit by foot.

He watches her purchase plane tickets to Los Angeles. While confused, he isn't willing to give up his plans. He would get the child one way or another and the boy would be his ticket to getting Juliet back to the island.

He purchases a ticket to Los Angeles and when the plane boards he follows Rachael and Julian. He is seated a few rows behind them.

When boarding the plane, he took note of Rachael's tear stained eyes and distracted behaviour. He wonders what had gotten her in this state. What was making her jump on a plane and fly to California in such a rush?

"Juliet?" he wonders to himself. "Had something happened?"

***********************************************************

Sawyer, Kate and Hurley rushed after Jack towards the ICU. They are met at the door by a nurse, stopping them from entering.

"You'll have to come back", she says. "We can't let anyone in right now"

Behind her, they could see the chaos going on with Jack in the middle calling out orders.

"Just tell me" James says pleadingly to the nurse, "tell me that is not Juliet"

Kate sees Jack look up at the clock and they over hear his voice, "That's it" he says. "I'm calling it, time of death 20:15"

Sawyer is once again using the wall to keep himself upright. As the crowd starts to dissipate from around the bed, they get a look at the body laying in it.

Hurley grabs the door jam to support his weight. "Oh God" he says shaking his head. "It's not Juliet, its Charlie"

Kate reaches out, placing her hand on Hurley's arm. "I'm sorry Hurley" she says softly. She knew how hard it was for Hurley when Charlie died on the island, now he was going to have to relive that pain for a second time.

"Mr Ford" a nurse says approaching, "Dr. Shephard asked me to bring you to Dr. Burke now"

He nods, still shell shocked from the events that had just happened, he follows her.

"Stay with Hugo, Freckles" he says to Kate.

He glances toward the curtained area where Charlie lay on the other side. Despite the sadness he felt over Charlie's loss, he couldn't help but be thankful that Juliet was alright.

Jack meets him outside Juliet's cubicle. "She has just woken up Sawyer. She's had a lot of pain mediation, so she made fade in and out of sleep"

"That's alright Doc, I don't want her feelin' any pain"

"Call if you need anything" Jack says walking back towards Hurley and Kate.

James pulls aside the curtain and enters Juliet's cubicle. He is momentarily taken aback by her appearance. She was as pale as the sheets she was laying on. Multiple tubes were running into her arms. Her right leg had a cast from just above her knee to her foot and another cast splinted on her right wrist. A monitor quietly beeped, recording her heart rate and breathing. She appeared to be sleeping and he quietly approached her bed, sitting in the chair next to her. He traces his fingers over her hand, thankful she appeared warmer than she'd been down in the emergency room.

Her eyes open slightly at the feeling of someone touching her.

"Hey", he says closing his hand around her and kissing her fingers softly. "Welcome back" he tells her.

A tear runs from the corner of her eye and he wipes it away with his thumb.

"Shh", he says. "It's alright Jules, you are going to be just fine"

"I'm sorry" she whispers, her throat sore from the tube which had been placed earlier to help her to breath.

"No" he says shaking her head. "You have nothing to be sorry for"

"I didn't see car. I stepped right out in front of it"

He didn't want to tell her that it was looking more and more like she was hit on purpose, that the car that hit her had been waiting for her to walk into the laneway.

"It wasn't your fault Juliet", he says a little more strongly. He refused to let her blame herself for this.

"Jack says you are going to be just fine. You'll be chasing me around in no time" he teases her.

She let's out a small laugh, which causes her to cough and her hand goes to her abdomen. He can see the pain on her face.

"I'm sorry" he says sympathetically. It hurt him to see her in pain.

"Did Jack tell you about your injuries?" he asks her.

"He told me that I broke my leg and wrist and that they had to do exploratory surgery on my abdomen because of bleeding"

He nods, and takes both of her hands in his. He hadn't quite figured out how he was going to tell her, but knew that he couldn't keep it from her.

"What is it James?" she asks noting the look on his face.

"Oh Jules" he says kissing her hand tenderly.

"Something else happened honey, I told Jack that I needed to be the one to tell you"

He takes a deep breath. "Juliet when they were fixing the damage caused by the accident they found out you were pregnant"

Another tear drips down from her eyes.

"Juliet, I'm sorry" he says his own voice cracking. "They tried Blondie, but they weren't able to save the baby"

Her hand slides from his and she places it over her abdomen. She had been pregnant, carrying his child and she had had no clue.

"How could I have not known?" she whispers. "I should have known"

"Juliet, so much has happened these past few weeks. Jack said he isn't surprised you didn't know yet"

Tears were openly flowing from her eyes now, and he leans his head down placing it next to hers, his hand moving on top of hers and giving it a squeeze.

"It's going to be okay Juliet, I promise you I'll make it okay"

Together they mourn the loss of the child that they didn't know they were having, but both so clearly realizing that they had wanted, and would have welcomed into their lives.

***************************************************************************************************

A few hours after Charlie's death and Juliet having finally been declared stable, Hurley heads home with a promise to get in touch with Jack in the morning.

For the first time since Kate had shown up at the hospital, she was alone with Jack.

"We didn't properly get to say hello", Jack says wrapping his arms around her.

"Thank you", she says. "I owe you my freedom. My mom told me what you guys did to help me"

"Kate I'm the one that needs to apologize. Everything that has happened...this is all my fault. You knew that if the plan worked and if there was a reset you were going to end up in prison. You went along with me anyways, even though I was so damn selfish I didn't care. I thought that I could save all those people that had died, and now they are all dying anyways. I had a chance to save Charlie in there and there wasn't a damn thing I could do"

She tries to stop him but he keeps talking. "You were right Kate, not everything that happened was misery. When I got my memory back in Australia and I realized what I had done . . "

"Kate I love you, I want a second chance. I know that I don't deserve it but. . "

He is interrupted by her lips on his. "Just shut up and kiss me Jack", she mumbles while kissing him, wrapping her arms around his neck.

He wraps his arms around her, returning her kiss.


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20**

After the plane landed in Los Angeles Ben continued to follow Rachael and Julian. He is surprised when they arrive at St. Sebastian Hospital. He is now more than convinced that something had happened.

Rachael jumps from the cab, picks up her luggage and grabs Julian's hand leading him into the hospital.

Ben follows them a few paces behind.

"Jack", Rachael calls, seeing him across the hallway when she'd reached the floor that the ICU was on.

Hearing his name, Jack turns to the voice.

"Rachael" he says heading towards her.

"Please tell me Jack, tell me that she is okay"

"She's got a bit of recovery ahead of her Rachael, but she's going to be alright"

Rachael breaths a sigh of relief, "during the flight I kept going through all the worst case scenarios. I don't know what I would do if something happened to her."

Kate steps forward, "Why don't I keep Julian with me and Jack can take you in to see Juliet"

Rachael looks sceptically at Kate.

"It's okay Rachael. She's with me. She's a friend of Juliet's"

Anxious to see her sister, Rachael gives in. "Julian honey, you are gonna stay here with Auntie Juliet's friend" she looks to Jack questioningly.

"This is your Auntie Juliet's friend Kate" he tells the little boy.

Julian shrugs his shoulders. "Okay" he replies taking Kate's hand.

Kate takes the blone haired little boy over to the chairs. Her heart aches for Aaron, she knows in this time line Claire hadn't given birth to him yet, but that didn't stop her pain.

Jack leads Rachael to Juliet's room.

Juliet had finally drifted off to sleep. James turns when he hears the door open. He quietly gets up and goes towards Rachael. He is not sure why but he pulls her into a hug. At first she is taken aback, but then wraps her arms around him. She could see by the look on his face that what had transpired over the past twenty four hours had taken a toll on him.

"How is she?" Rachael asks when she pulls away from him.

"As good as can be expected", James says stepping back from Rachael and moving aside so she can go to Juliet's side.

"Let's go grab a bite to eat Sawyer", Jack says.

"I don't want to leave her Doc"

"You haven't been out of this room in hours Sawyer, you need a break. She isn't alone, Rachael is here"

"Go James", Rachel says. "I'm not going anywhere"

He sighs, giving in. "Fine"

Jack and James leave the room, leaving Rachael alone with Juliet.

Rachael takes a seat in the chair which had been previously occupied by James. She takes Juliet's hand in her own. "Oh sweetie" she says looking at her sister's broken body.

A short while later, Juliet moans.

"James" she whispers. .

"He stepped out honey", Rachael says soothingly.

"Rachael", Juliet says more aware of her surroundings. "What are you doing here?"

"You thought I wouldn't come? You know me better than that Juliet"

"I'm glad you're here" she says, tears once again falling from her eyes.

"Hey", Rachael says wiping away the tears. "I wouldn't be anywhere else. Are you okay?" she asks. "Are you in pain?"

Juliet shakes her head no.

"I was pregnant Rachael", she tells her sister, her voice cracking. "I didn't even know, and I lost my baby"

"Oh Jules" she says reaching down trying to give her a hug without hurting her, despite knowing that there was no medicine in the world that would take away this particular pain her sister was feeling.

When the doors of the elevator opened on the third floor Ben ducked into a crowd of people. He was shocked to see Jack and Kate greet Rachael and Julian. They must have all remembered.

"How?" he wondered to himself. "It wasn't supposed to be happening like this".

He watches as Kate takes Julian to the chairs, and Jack leads Rachael off into a patient room. A few moments later he sees Jack accompany a distraught looking Sawyer out of the room. His heart sinks. He is now certain that something had happened to Juliet and by the looks of Sawyer it wasn't good. He was desperate to get into that room to see her, to find out what happened but knew that if in the long run his plan was going to work he couldn't be found out yet.

He heads off to the nurses station to see if he could get information on Juliet by other means.

**************************************

As Jack leads Sawyer back to Kate and Julian they are approached by a pair of LAPD officers.

"Mr. Ford, Dr. Shephard", the pair greets them. "How is Dr. Burke?"

"She's improving", Jack tells the officers.

"Have you found the bastard that did this?" Sawyer asks angrily.

"We found the car", one of the officers replies. "It had been abandoned. There were no prints"

"So you haven't found him"

The officer shakes his head. "Can you think of anyone that would do this? We have done accident reconstruction down in the parking lot. It doesn't look like this was a random accident. It seems Dr. Burke was targeted as he crossed the roadway"

"Son of a bitch" James says his anger increasing by the moment. "When I get my hands on the bastard that did this. . "

"Sawyer", Jack says touching his arm, trying to calm him. "Let the cops figure this out"

"Ben", says Jack aloud, "Do you think he's off the . . " he trails off. There was no way he could explain this to the officers.

"Linus?" Sawyer says. . "You think he could have done this?"

"It's possible" Jack replies.

The officers look at the pair with some confusion. "So you think you might know who did this?"

"There's a possibility it's a man named Benjamin Linus", Jack replies.

The officer opens his notebook and writes down the name. "Do you have a description?" he asks.

Jack gives him a description of Ben. "He's a", he looks for some way to describe Ben "A crafty guy" he continues. "There is a possibility he isn't even going by the name Ben Linus"

The officer continues to write as Jack talks, and shuts the notebook when Jack's finished.

"This gives us a start anyways. We'll check in when we know anything. "

The two officers turn and walk away leaving Jack and James alone again. The pair head towards the waiting room, where Kate and Julian were waiting.

********************************************************

An hour later when Rachael was assured Juliet was asleep she takes the nurse up on the offer of a break. The nurse assures her that she won't leave Juliet alone. Rachael heads from the room and goes to find James.

She finds some of them sitting in the waiting room.

"Mommy", Julian says seeing his mother, getting up and running towards her. "Kate is reading me stories" he says.

"That's great honey", she replies.

"How's she doing?" Kate asks.

"Sleeping finally", replies Rachael. "Where's James, I was going to send him back in."

"Jack was finally able to drag him down to the cafeteria to get something to eat. He hasn't eaten or slept all night. They should be back shortly"

Rachael sits and Julian climbs into her lap.

Meanwhile, back at Juliet's room the nurse is pulled out by another nurse to help out in another patient's room.

Seeing he finally had his chance Ben slips into Juliet's room. He is shocked by the look of her lying in the bed. She looked so fragile. Had she just stayed with him, none of this would have happened. Had that damn plane never crashed on the island and started all of this in motion she would have been his.

He sits beside her, taking her hand in his.

"James?" Juliet asks her eyes fluttering open. Fear flashes through her as her vision clears and she sees the face of the man holding onto her hand.

He sees the look of fear on her face as she realizes the vulnerable position she is in.

Before he can say anything, she pulls her hand from his and a scream escapes from her lips.

At the sound of her scream, he jumps from the chair and runs from the room, escaping down the hall. He couldn't be found out, not yet.

Returning from the cafeteria, in the opposite direction from Ben, James and Jack hear Juliet's panicked scream. The pair picks up the pace and run towards her room.

"Juliet" James says throwing open the door. Seeing the look of fear in her face he rushes to her bedside. "What is it Jules?" he asks glancing around the room.

"Ben", she whispers, glancing around the room. "He was here"

"Jules, sweetheart there was no one in here. Jack and I were walking down the hall we didn't see anyone come out"

"James, he was here" she says emphatically.

"If he was here, he's gone now" he says trying to reassure her. He sits down next to her bed and takes her hand, not wanting to upset her any more than she already was.

"I'll go alert security" Jack says while headed out the door. "I'll check back in later"

When Jack had left them alone she continues, "I know that it was Ben, he must remember too. Why do you think he's here?"

James thinks back to his earlier discussion with the police officers. He couldn't tell her that he thought that Ben had done this.

"I don't know Juliet, but I can assure you that as long as I am alive Ben won't get anywhere near you. . ", he trails off.

Ben had not been expecting Juliet to wake up when he had popped into her room. He had been surprised when she woke and screamed and he had just gotten around the corner when he saw Sawyer and Jack rush into her room.

He silently cursed them all.

He had overheard the nurses talking about Juliet having been hit by a car and the driver having escaped. He wondered who had dared to hit her. Anger flashed through him at the thought of someone trying to kill his beloved Juliet. They would pay with their life should he ever get his hands on the person.

Assured for now that Juliet was okay, he leaves the hospital. He knew for now anyways he'd know where Rachael and the boy were. Until Juliet was well enough he couldn't make his next move.


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21**

Two weeks later....

James watches as the nurse exits Juliet's room looking flustered. "I'm not sure you want to go in there this morning Mr. Ford", she says exasperated.

"Ah" he laughs. "She's in a good mood today is she?" he jokes with the young nurse.

The young woman shakes her head. "Not so much", she says heading off back to the nurses station muttering to herself something about doctors making horrible patients..

Still chuckling to himself he pushes open the door. "Sweetheart you have to be nicer to those poor nurses, they are going to kick you out."

"I wish they would" she grumbles. "I'm sick of this place, sick of this bed, sick of being helpless" she continues to grumble.

The first week of her stay had gone relatively well. She had been kept fairly well medicated after her surgery and during her initial period of recovery. This past week had not been so easy.

Her pain had finally been decreasing, but her frustration with requiring assistance with every task had not brought out the best in her. Having to depend on someone was not one of her strong suits.

"Jules honey, that poor girl ran outta here with her tail between her legs. What'd you do to her?" he teases.

"Did you talk to Jack yet?" she asks ignoring his teasing.

"He's not here yet"

"Seriously I think it's a conspiracy between the two of you to keep me trapped here forever"

He starts to laugh and then stifles it when he catches her icy blue glare.

He leans down and kisses her tenderly on the lips. "We only want what's best for you" he says when he pulls away from her.

She attempts to shift herself up to a sitting position trying to coordinate her casted leg and her sore abdomen.

"Here let me help you" he says seeing her struggling. When he again gets the icy glare he backs off.

"I don't need help, I need people to leave me alone and let me figure this out for myself"

"Juliet" he says putting his hand on her cheek and turning her head so that they are looking eye to eye. "You're not alone anymore. We are a team and if it was me lying in that bed wouldn't you be trying to help me"

She looks down avoiding his gaze.... she knew he was right.

"I'm sorry", she apologizes.

"No need to apologize to me" he says.

"Remember when we first started flashing and then those first few weeks in Dharma-Ville, it took us a long time to learn to trust one another, but once we figured it out life got so much easier. Don't forget that. . "

After a few moments of silence she finally speaks again.

"Do you think we would have made good parents?"

The question catches him slightly off guard, so that's what was really bothering her. Since the day that he'd told her they'd lost a baby they hadn't spoken of it again. "You will be an amazing mom Jules", he says focussing his attention on her. "I've seen you with Julian. You light up when he's around you"

"I think you'll make a pretty good dad too. . "

He can't help but laugh at that. "I am sort of a failure in that department. We both know that I ain't ever been a father to Clementine."

"You weren't ready then. Cassidy didn't really give you a chance to get use to the idea either" she says in his defence.

"I hadn't really ever considered having a baby of my own" she continues.

He puts his hands over hers. "We can try again Jules, if you want. The doctor said all the damage was fixed, that there should be no reason you can't get pregnant again"

She gives his hand a squeeze, "So it's something you would consider then? Us having a baby?"

He leans in and kisses her again, "with you Jules, absolutely."

He sits down next to her and pulls her into his arms, just needing to hold her.

It was like this an hour later that Jack found them, when he finally showed up.

"The nurses are offering me money to discharge you", he teases.

She rolls her eyes. "I'll give you more, just name your price"

He laughs. "Kate's with Hurley right now getting a room ready for you at his place. They are making sure its Juliet proofed"

She shoots Jack a glare.

"We can get a hotel room doc", James says.

"You'd have to take that up with Hurley. He is insisting he has more than enough room. Rachael and Julian are both already staying there. Kate and I spent last night there too. ."

"How are things between you two?" Juliet asks.

"Okay. It's not going to be easy, I really messed things up with her, but I think we'll be okay" he says optimistically.

After a few moments of silence he continues. "I'll go fill in the necessary paper work, you guys get ready to go. I'll be back in an hour."

Juliet shifts around in the bed to get herself situated to get up. "Don't have to ask me twice. Can you help me get ready?"

"Absolutely" he agrees going to the closet to get the clothes he'd brought for her. Secretly thrilled she'd finally consented to stop being so stubborn and let him help her.


	22. Chapter 22

**Chapter 22**

**Five weeks post accident...**

"There were five more names listed in the paper today. The media is all over this story of the cursed Oceanic Air flight", James says to Jack and Hurley.

The three were sitting around Hurley's living room discussing the latest update in the newspaper.

"That makes twenty so far. Who was is this time?" asks Jack.

"Artz, 'Frogurt', Libby and two names I didn't recognize", he says and then notes the look on Hurley's face.

"Sorry Hugo. We tried, but we just couldn't track her down in time"

"Probably wouldn't have mattered" he says in a defeated tone. "We couldn't help Charlie, what makes you think we can help any of them"

"There has got to be a way to stop this", replies Jack.

"Like we stopped it with the bomb?" Sawyer asks with a hint of sarcastic anger.

"Sawyer", Jack starts and is interrupted by Kate, Rachael, Julian and a hobbling Juliet entering the room.

"Hey", James says jumping up to help Juliet get to the couch. "What did the doctor say?" he asks when he gets her seated.

None of them miss the glare she shoots Jack. .

"Another week or two in the damn casts" she says frustrated.

"What's the look for?" Jack asks her chuckling. "It's not like I called and told him to keep them on for another week".

"Juliet" Rachael says in an irritated tone, she knew that her sister was stubborn but over the past few weeks she'd seen a whole new side to her.

"What were you guys talking about?" Kate asks hoping to change the subject. She walks over and sits with Jack.

"The five more Oceanic deaths", Hurley replies.

"Ahh", she says understanding the tenseness that was easily felt in the room when they'd entered.

Since Juliet's accident and Charlie's death, life for the group of them had becoming ensuring Juliet's safety and getting her better. While some time had been allotted to trying to track down others from the plane the majority of time was spent making sure Juliet got her strength back. None were sure what was going to happen, but all felt like at any moment whatever it was going to be that happened, could happen at any time.

They had hired a private detective who had tracked the whereabouts of Claire, and Sayid. While they'd been found they had not yet contacted them. They were still trying to find Sun, Jin, Rose and Bernard.

"We need to contact Claire soon", says Kate. "If what happened on the island is going to follow the same timeline she is going to give birth soon. I think we need to get to her before she has the baby"

"Yeah, I agree", says Jack. "I don't think she remembers, otherwise I'm sure she would have contacted one of us"

It was James turn, "We aren't even sure what happened to Claire on the island" he says remembering that morning he'd woken up in the jungle and she'd disappeared leaving Aaron behind. "What if she died?"

"There seems to be no rationale for the timetable of people dying since the plane landed. But, Claire 'lived' long enough to give birth to Aaron on the island so I think that she's safe till after Aaron is born now" says Juliet.

Jack gives Kate's hand a squeeze at the mention of Aaron. They had spent many hours talking about the child she had once cared for as her own, who in this life hadn't been born yet.

"Aaron is going to be fine Kate he was off the island when all this started"

"I know", says with a nod. "Its just. . ", she trails off. "It doesn't matter anyways. That was another life"

There is silence for a moment and then Jack speaks again. "I think we are all agreed. We need to find Claire and get her to remember in order to try to keep her safe?"

There are nods from around the room.

James notices that Juliet was looking more and more tired, and he could tell by her frequent shifting around next to him that she was uncomfortable. He was sure that her morning trip to the hospital and then shopping with Rachael, Kate and Julian had tuckered her out but she hated to give in. He knew she'd been struggling since the accident to prove that she was better and only when they were alone did she ever break down.

"Why don't you go rest?" he says taking her hand.

He expects an argument and is surprised when she actually agrees with him.

"Yeah, I think I will", she says reaching for her crutches.

"Here" he says grabbing the crutches and helping her to stand.

"It's only another week or two" he says following closely behind her as they walked towards their bedroom.

"Yeah, I know" she says not able to hide her disappointment. "I was just looking forward to freedom"

"I know you're disappointed" he says after he helps her to get into the bed. "But the time will go quickly and then we can put all this behind us"

He leans in and gives her a kiss. "I'll be back to check on you in awhile. Rest okay?"

She nods and he turns to head out of the room.

He pauses at the doorway, turning to look at her, happy her eyes were already closed. He heads back to the group in the living room.

Till this point, Ben had evaded capture, he had also not made any further attempts to see Juliet.

Julian had gotten bored playing in the house and had grabbed his trucks and headed out into Hurley's back yard. Deep in conversation, none of the adults noticed that he'd left the room.

Ben had been hanging out in his car watching Hurley's house. His plans were taking way longer than he'd originally intended but he couldn't make his move when Juliet's life had been in danger. Without her, none of his plans would work. He needed her mostly, but the island needed all of them.

He glances up from the newspaper when he notices the child playing in the side yard. He stays put for the time being, knowing generally where the child went, one of the many adults in the house was usually close on his heels.

After fifteen minutes and no adults in sight he decides to make his move. He quickly and quietly moves across the yard. Sneaking up behind the child he clamps a hand over the child's mouth so he couldn't scream. With the child struggling in his arms he quickly moves back to his car.

Opening the back door he places the little boy in the back seat. He reaches for the cloth that he had soaked in sedative and places over the little boy's face. The little boy is quickly asleep. Ben jumps back into the front seat of the car and speeds away from the scene. While it had taken close to six weeks, the first step in his plan was now complete.

Inside the house, Rachael had watched as James helped Juliet back to their bedroom. She realizes it had been awhile since she'd seen Julian. Getting up off the couch she begins to wander around the house looking for him. He'd made a game out of playing hide and go-seek in the large mansion.

As she searched all of his favourite spots to hide she became more and more frantic when she couldn't track him down. "Julian, this is not funny. Come out right now. You are scaring mommy", she says searching the room the little boy had been staying in.

Kate, Jack and Hurley had joined the search noticing that Rachael wasn't having any luck tracking down the little boy.

Running into James coming out of his and Juliet's room, Kate asks if he'd seen the little boy.

"He's not in the bedroom", he tells Kate as they head back towards the living room.

Looking out the patio door, Kate notices Julian's trucks on the lawn, "He must have gone outside" she says heading out the patio door with Sawyer and Rachael on her heels.

They enter into the yard in time to see Ben shutting the back car door and jumping into the front seat. The three of them can all see the top of the blonde haired little boy's head just visible in the backseat.

Sawyer and Kate run closer to the road to try and get a licence plate number off the car.

As the car speeds off down the road Rachael's screams can be heard through the neighbourhood...

"Julian..." Rachael screams dropping to her knees.


	23. Chapter 23

**Thanks to everyone who has continued to read and review and help to reach 100 reviews for this story. This is a long chapter and moves us into the final stretch of the story. I'd love to reach at least 150 reviews by the end. . so please, keep them coming :)). I'd love to hear your theories on the 'big war' and how things will end! Who should be the one to finally kill Ben (or should he live to the end???)**

**Chapter 23**

_**Garth Brooks (When you come back to me again)**_

_There's a ship out on the ocean,  
At the mercy of the sea.  
It's been tossed about,  
Lost and broken,  
Wandering aimlessly.  
And God somehow you know,  
That ship is me._

Juliet is awakened by the terrified screams of her sister.

She struggles to quickly get herself out of the bed, grabs her crutches and follows the screams.

James meets her at the patio door. Over his shoulder she can see Kate trying to calm Rachael.

"What happened?"

"It's Ben" he says glancing back out at Kate and Rachael.

He puts his arm around Juliet to keep her steady. "Jules, he just took Julian"

She feels her knees weaken under her, thankful he was holding her up.

"Son of a bitch" she says.

Rachael sees Juliet coming out into the backyard and runs to her, throwing her arms around her sister. Juliet wraps her arms around Rachael, running her hand down her head. "We are going to get him back Rach" she says trying to sooth her. "He won't get away with this"

"Why Jules, why my son? We have nothing to do with this" she sobs.

Stone faced Juliet stares into the street. She knows why he took Julian.

"He took Julian to get to me. He's after me, he wants me" she says simply. "He won't hurt him Rachael", she says truthfully, knowing whatever Ben was he wouldn't intentionally cause harm to the little boy. "And I promise you, I will find him you will get him back"

Juliet can see James talking to Jack, Hurley and Kate. Sirens can be heard in the distance, getting louder as they approach the house.

Her heart sinks and Rachael doesn't miss the look on her face.

"Juliet?"

Juliet returns her attention to Rachael. A stray tear streams down her cheek and she brushes it away from her fingers.

"He's going to make me go back" she says distantly. "He's going to make me leave all of you, to save Julian"

"Jules, are you listening to yourself? That's crazy"

She nods in agreement. But sadly she felt it was the truth.

Police officers start pouring onto the scene, Juliet takes Rachael's arm and pulls her aside.

"I need you to make me a promise", she says full of seriousness.

"Jules don't,. . you can't do this, it's nuts", Rachael says, fully aware of what Juliet was about to ask her.

"No Rachael, I have to do this"

Both women glances back over at the officers. For the moment, they were keeping the others occupied.

"Just give me a head start Rachael before you tell James I'm gone. He won't let me do this and I have to do this alone. Ben won't hesitate to kill any of them. James, Kate, Jack, I have to go by myself"

"Juliet, you can barely walk. How do you expect to do this alone?"

"I can do it Rachael, trust me. I will get Julian back for you"

Juliet throws her arms around Rachael and hugs her tightly, both women were fighting tears. "I love you Rachael. Tell James that I love him, and I will see you both soon"

Juliet watches for a moment as Rachael pulls herself together and heads over to the officers. Her heart aches at the thought of leaving them, but there was no other way. That she was sure of.

"I love you James. I'm sorry but I have to leave you to save you", she whispers as she takes one last look at him and escapes back into the house. She grabs her purse, and a set of keys. Heading out to the driveway she gets behind the wheel of the car James had rented. Driving wasn't easy with the casts, but it was doable.

She takes one last deep breath, readying herself for the journey she was about to make and drives off.

*********************************************************************************************************

The next hour passed in a blur. The LAPD had taken each of them off separately to be questioned about the missing child. James naturally assumed that Juliet had made her way back into the house as she wasn't able to easily manoeuvre her crutches around outside.

"Juliet", he calls as he enters back into the house. "You in here?" he says entering the bedroom.

"Kate", he says coming back into the living room. "Have you seen Jules?" he asks her.

"Nope. Maybe she's still being questioned" she wonders aloud.

"She's not here", Rachael says walking into the room, overhearing their conversation.

"What the hell do you mean she's not here?" James asks snapping at Rachael.

Tears spring to Rachael's eyes.

"Oh God", Rachael says unsure what to do. "She made me promise not to tell"

James steps closer to Rachael, wanting to shake it out of her but try's to maintain his calm.

"Where did she go Rachael?" he asks, unsuccessful at keeping his voice calm.

"After Ben, she said she knew how to get Julian back" she finally spills.

"Son of a Bitch", James says really upset now.

"How could you just let her go Rachael. She is no match for Ben right now" he yells, mostly angry at himself for not having kept a closer watch over her.

"But", she starts, loosing her own battle with her tears again.

"Sawyer", Kate steps forward putting a hand on his arm.

He pulls away from her. "Don't Kate, don't you dare try to tell me this is going to be okay"

"What's going on?" Jack asks as he and Hurley enter the room.

"Juliet's gone" Kate says approaching Jack. "She went after Ben"

"Why'd she do that?" Hurley asks sinking down into the chair.

"To protect the rest of us", James says finally figuring it out. So many times they had discussed Ben. One of her biggest fears was Ben getting to them, hurting any more of the people she loved.

"She wouldn't", says Jack. "She wouldn't go back with him"

James nods. "She would if it meant saving us"

Jack stands up. "We can't wait any longer. We need to get in contact with Claire, Sayid, Sun and Jin. You guys were fine living in Dharma, this all started when we went back on Flight 316, I think that means we need all of us together if it's ever going to end."

"I'll help you" Kate says standing and going with Jack.

"Me too", says Hurley following them down the hall.

Rachael and James are left alone in the living room.

"I'm sorry James", Rachael says stepping closer to him. "I shouldn't have let her go. I should have talked her out of it. But he took my baby," she trails off.

He shakes his head sadly. "We both know when your sister has made up her mind there is very little that you can do to change it. I just pray we get to her before Ben does. If he takes her back to that island, we may never see her again"

As angry as he is at this situation and with Rachael for letting Juliet leave, he can see the devastated look on Rachel's face. He opens up his arms inviting her in. She steps closer to him and he wraps his arms around her. He couldn't forget that she had just lost both her child and her sister. "We'll get them back Rachael. I promise you that. . ."

***********************************************************************************************************************************************

'_Cause there's a lighthouse,  
In a harbour,  
Shining faithfully.  
Pouring its light out,  
Across the water.  
For this sinking soul to see,  
That someone out there still believes in me.  
_

An hour later Juliet is still driving around, she knows she is crazy for having left like that without any real plan. She'd just acted on instinct.

Her cell phone had rung ten times in the past hour. Each time the number on the phone showed that it was James, but she couldn't bring herself to answer. On the eleventh ring she almost doesn't even glance down but when she does she sees this time it is an unknown caller.

She pulls into a parking lot and flips open the phone putting it to her ear.

"Where in the hell are you Ben" she says, not needing to hear his voice to know who it was.

"Juliet, nice to hear your voice too" he replies.

"Ben, I'm not going to play games with you. Where is my nephew?"

"If you want to see him again Juliet, you'll meet me at the Long Beach Marina, Slip 23 in thirty minutes. Oh and Juliet, come alone"

She is silent a moment before answering. "I'll be there Ben. I'll do whatever you want. Just don't hurt Julian. He's innocent in all of this"

"You think I'd hurt the boy", he scoffs into the phone. "I'm doing all this for you Juliet, for you and the island. You are the only two things that have ever been important to me. The boy's just a pawn in the game"

"No one hair on his head, you understand that Ben" she yells into the phone.

"Twenty-eight minutes Juliet"

The phone goes silent in her hands, and then she hears the dial tone.

"Dammit" she says cursing, hitting her uncasted hand against the wheel.

She pulls the map out of the glove box and finds the pier, mapping out her drive.

Again she puts the car into gear, turning out of the parking lot she heads towards the Long Beach Marina and slip 23.

********************************************************************************************************************

He slams his cell phone down on the coffee table.

"Dammit, why won't she just pick up her cell phone" he says to no one in particular.

"Because she's stubborn" replies Jack.

"Tell me something I don't know" James says angrily.

"I just got off the phone with Sayid. He's still in Los Angeles he's on his way over. He has been gradually remembering things over the past few weeks."

"He's willing to help us?"

Jack nods, "He found Nadia again. He won't let himself get close to her, he's afraid if he does something will happen to her again"

"And Claire?" James asks.

"She's on her way over", Kate says entering the room. "She remembers too. She read a memorial about Charlie. . " She knows she doesn't need to say anything else. They could figure it out for themselves.

"She didn't come looking for us though", questions Jack.

"She's devastated that Charlie died again, and she's pregnant. I'm not surprised she didn't look us up", says Kate.

"But she is willing to help now?" asks James.

Kate interject, "she says she's got nothing else to lose"

"Does she know she's my sister?"

"She does now", says Kate. "She figured it out when she saw your dad's picture in the paper. She remembers meeting him in Australia"

"It's not safe to involve her in this. She is going to have Aaron any day now", says Kate.

"We have no choice", replies Jack sadly.

"What are you going to do when they get here?" asks Rachael, who'd been silent up till now. "How are you going to get Juliet and Julian back?"

"We are going to go to a Dharma Station that is here in LA, the Lamp Post", says Jack.

"If Ben plans to take Juliet back the island, that station is our key to finding the island"

"We can't go back there Jack", Kate says not liking where all this was seemingly leading. "We need to end this before it takes us back there"

He turns to look into her eyes. "Live together, die alone", he says taking her hand.

"We were never suppose to leave", Hurley chimes in. "That's why all this is happening"

James picks up his cell phone again and hits redial. This time he's met with a busy signal. Again he tosses the phone back down, flopping down on the couch beside it. .

"Why couldn't you have just waited for me to help you Blondie" he thinks to himself.

*****************************************************************************************************************************

_On a prayer,  
In a song,  
I hear your voice,  
And it keeps me hanging on.  
Oh, raining down, against the wind.  
I'm reaching out,  
'Till we reach the circle's end.  
When you come back to me again._

Twenty minutes later she arrives at the Long Beach Marina. She pulls into parking space, needing a moment to breathe before she went to Slip 23. She had a bad feeling about what was going to happen but in order to save Julian it had to happen.

She glances down at the cell phone beside her. Her heart torn in two...

"_Whatever happens, I'm with you"_ she can hear his voice in her head.

Reaching down her hand she picks up the cell phone, "I can't do it" she thinks to herself. "I can't leave him like this"

She dials his number and waits . . .

"Juliet", she can hear the strain in his voice when he says her name.

"James", she says softly, trying not to cry. "I don't have much time. I'm at the Long Beach Marina, Slip 23... Ben is meeting me here with Julian."

"Juliet, I'm on my way, please just wait for me. We will do this together"

She glances at the clock she only had another few minutes.

"I'm sorry James, there's no time. Promise me, you won't come after me. Don't come back to the island"

"Juliet don't do this, don't go back there with him"

"I have no choice James, it's the only way"

"Juliet no"

"I love you James"

"I'm coming Juliet, I love you" he gets in just before he hears the click of her phone. He hits redial but is not surprised when he doesn't get a response.

He jumps up, scrambling about the living room.

"Where is she?" Jack asks.

"Slip 23, Long Beach Marina"

Claire and Sayid had arrived just a short while before Juliet's call. They were quickly filled in on what was happening. Heavily pregnant, the other's felt badly for involving Claire in this, but now she would have no part in being left behind.

"I'll drive", says Sayid leading the group to his vehicle.

******************************************************************************************************************************

_There's a moment,  
That we all come to.  
In our own time and in our own space.  
Where all that we've done,  
We can undo,  
If our hearts' in the right place._

Juliet had left her cell phone on the seat of the vehicle. She manages to hobble herself across the marina to Slip 23. Docked there is a boat.

"Juliet", says Ben coming up onto the deck of the boat. "I knew you'd come"

He holds out a hand to help her and she pushes it away with her crutch.

"I can do it myself", she says carefully manoeuvring herself down onto the boat.

"Still just as stubborn as ever I see"

"Where's Julian, Ben?" she asks ignoring his comments.

"He's down in the cabin sleeping Juliet"

"Ben", she hears a familiar male voice call from down in the boat. "The kid's starting to wake up"

"Julian" she says moving towards the ladder.

A head pops up looking out onto the deck.

"Tom?" Juliet says surprised.

The familiar man gives her a funny look. Of course he had no clue who she was, she'd never been brought to the island.

She looks back at Ben,

"Much has changed since you've been gone Juliet"

She wonders, in reality it had only been a couple of months since she'd been gone.

"When is it on the island Ben?" she asks.

"Oh its 2004", he replies. "Only a very different 2004 from the one you remember"

"Tom we'll be right down. Make sure the kid is comfortable. Jacob wants both of these two brought to the island in one piece" he says dismissing the man who was watching their exchange with much curiosity.

Tom disappears back down into the boat.

"I don't know much about when you all disappeared Juliet, but after the last flash occurred everything was different on the island."

"It was 2004 again, only I had memories from two very different times of my life. Not only that, seemingly I was the only that had any kind of memory from the previous reality"

She nods her head so far his story was not unlike what she herself had experienced.

She hears Julian's sobbing down in the boat. Her heart ached for him; she needed to get to him. But she needed to keep Ben talking right now, to give James and the others time to get there.

Ben continues, "In the new timeline the Swan station had never been built, therefore Flight 815 couldn't crash on the island. The Others still took over the Dharma Initiative barracks but not until much later than we'd done before. Women have no problem having babies on the island now. That's why Richard never came and recruited you"

She nods again, so far this is how she had figured had happened.

"Why are you doing this then Ben? Why are you trying to take me back now?"

"I told you once before Juliet that you were mine. The island doesn't need you anymore. Actually the island never needed you. You were always just a variable. But I need you Juliet"

"But", she starts and then stops.

"The island needs the rest of them. The Oceanic 815-ers, Jacob says they are supposed to come. You are the way we will get them to come back"

"But", she starts again. "Why does the island need them?"

"There's a war coming Juliet. They are the key"

She looks at him confused.

"That's all I can tell you right now. You'll learn more when it's the right time"

"Mommy", she hears Julian cry from down below.

She can't listen to him cry anymore and heads for the stairs.

"Julian, honey, Auntie Juliet is here for you", she calls down the stairs. She had no choice, whatever was going to happen it was too late to stop it.

Turning her back to Ben, her world goes black as he strikes her on the back on the head.

"I'm sorry Juliet", he says to her. "But this is the only way"

He leans down and picks up the unconscious Juliet.

"Tom", he calls to the man down below.

"Get ready to leave. We need to get back to the sub"

With Tom's help Ben gets Juliet down into the boat. They settle her into one of the beds, leaving the little boy with her. Back out in the kitchen area, Tom looks to Ben.

"I thought Jacob's list said we were supposed to bring people by the names of Austen, Ford, Shephard, Littleton, Reyes, Jarrah and the Kwon's. There is no Dr. Burke or the kid on the list!"

"I lied Tom", Ben says with a smirk, as he steers the boat out of the slip.


	24. Chapter 24

**Chapter 24**

_On a prayer,  
In a song,  
I hear your voice,  
And it keeps me hanging on.  
Oh, raining down, against the wind.  
I'm reaching out,  
'Till we reach the circle's end.  
And you come back to me again._

Juliet wakes with a start. Her first thought is that she is back in LA, in bed finishing up the nap that James had tucked her in for a few hours earlier. As she becomes more alert she glances around the room. She wasn't safely in LA with James, she was back....

She slowly moves to a sitting position. Aware of the pain at the back of her head where Ben had hit her, she moves her hand up to rub it. As she moves she realizes that Julian was curled up in the bed with her.

Her heart sinks, "He brought him too. . " she thinks to herself.

She runs her fingers though the little boys' hair. "Oh sweetie, I'm sorry that you've been dragged into this", she says aloud.

"Dragged into what?" she hears another familiar male voice.

She sees it is Ethan walking into the room. She is feeling faint and is glad she is propped on the bed.

"Woah there", he says quickly getting to her side. "You look like you've just seen a ghost"

"If only you knew" she thinks to herself. This was all so surreal.

"Ben told me that we had new guests. He mentioned you'd been in an accident a few weeks ago, suggested I come see if you were okay. I'm Ethan by the way, I'm the doctor here"

"An accident" she says with a sarcastic chuckle. "That's what he's calling it?"

Ethan gives her a questionable look.

"Forget it", she says to him. "I'm fine. Not sure if Ben mentioned it, but I'm also a doctor. I can take care of myself"

"He also mentioned you were a little bit stubborn. How much longer are your casts supposed to stay on?" he asks looking over her casts.

"I guess that would depend on what day it is now" she replies sarcastically.

He takes a step back from her and motions towards the child.

"Don't touch him", Juliet says protectively.

"Your son?" he asks curiously.

"My nephew", she replies. "He's asleep, I think" she says softening her tone a little bit.

"The casts can come off any day" she finally says realizing it wasn't really Ethan she was angry at. "They've been on over five weeks now"

He nods. "I'll be back to check on you later. Just call if you need anything" he says turning to exit the room.

"Wait", Juliet says as he moves towards the door.

"Yes?" he stops and turns to look back at her.

"Can you ask Ben to come in here? I'm sure he's out there waiting for a report"

He chuckles, "I'll send him in"

A few moments later Ethan is replaced by Ben.

"You're finally awake", he says with a smile approaching her bedside.

"Why'd you do it Ben?" she asks glancing down at the sleeping child.

"Julian is innocent in all of this, why did you bring him?"

"You wanted me to just leave him alone on the pier?" he asks shrugging his shoulders.

"It would have been preferable to this godforsaken island" she snips back at him.

"I figured you would like him with you. Something to remind you of home"

"He's my sisters' child Ben don't you think she'll be going crazy right about now?"

"I don't care about your sister Juliet" he says matter of fact.

"Damn you Ben" she says shooting him a glare. "If you think I'm going to do anything for you, you are sadly mistaken. You can keep us here, but you can't make us be a part of your life."

She looks down at the child and back up at Ben. "And if you even consider touching one hair on this boy's head, I won't hesitate to kill you. I'm guessing this is my house, and I don't want you anywhere near it. Get out Ben" she says keeping her voice steady.

Without responding Ben shoots a glare right back at her. He knew this wasn't going to be easy, but he'd win in the end. He always did.

He turns and leaves the room.

"She sounds pretty angry Ben", Ethan says when he gets back to the living room. "It doesn't sound like she came here of her own free will. You know that isn't how it is suppose to be"

He snaps back at Ethan, "Don't question my motives Ethan. Jacob put me in charge." He exits out the front door of the house, slamming it shut behind him.

Ethan heads to the kitchen to make their new visitors some food.

***************************************************************************************

Meanwhile, in LA...

The group arrives at the pier too late to stop Ben from leaving with Juliet and Julian.

Finding the car in the parking lot, James is devastated to find her gone.

They run to Slip 23, only to find it empty.

"Dammit" James says cursing their being too late. "She's gone, he's got her"

Sayid walks up to James and puts a hand on his shoulder. "We'll find her man. We are all in agreement we'll go back to the island if it means setting all this right"

James turns and looks at the group around him. His eyes fall on Rachael, of all of them she'd lost the most. Her son and her sister had disappeared into an unforeseen future on a boat with a madman. He walks over to her and places his fingers under her chin, lifting her head so they were looking eye to eye. "We'll find them Rachael"

"And if it means you go back to the island?" Rachael asks.

"Then you come too" he says without hesitation.

"But?" she says.

"Is that even possible?"

"We'll make it possible" Jack says moving closer to them. "I think we will make the rules from here on out. We've been puppets for long enough. We have been manipulated in a game that is much bigger than any of us could ever have imagined"

"Where do we go from here?" asks Kate.

"The church; we need to find Eloise Hawking. I'm sure that's the key to finding the island" says Jack.

"Let's go then" James says heading back towards the vehicles. James turns and glances back at the empty Slip. "There is no reason to stand around here. They are already gone" he says sadly.

An hour later they pull up into the parking lot of the church that houses the Lamp Post Dharma station. As the group is walking towards the church they are approached by Jin and Sun.

"How did you know we would be here?" Jack asks approaching them.

"We didn't," replies Sun. "We want to go back. This is how we got back the last time. So we figured this is the place to start"

"You want to go back?" Jack asks surprised.

"There is nothing for us in this life", Jin responds with surprisingly good English. "We were almost divorced, and our child was conceived on the island. Here we have nothing"

"Why are you all here?" Sun asks, looking at the assembled group.

"Ben has Juliet. He took both her and Rachael's son to the island", James says stepping forward. "I have to get her back"

Jin steps forward, shaking Sawyer's hand. He remembered the relationship between Juliet and James and how it had come to be. He remembered the devastated look on James face when Juliet had tumbled down that hole. "It's good to see you again James. We'll help you get them back"

"Let's go then", Sayid says leading the way into the church.

Entering the church, the group finds they are the only ones there.

"So Doc, where exactly is this Dharma Station?" James asks.

Jack walks down the hallway, retracing the steps he'd make a little over three years from now (in a different life). "This way" he says to the group. He pushes open the hidden doorway which would lead them to the basement. He had no clue if Eloise would be here he only hoped she would be.

Taking the winding staircase to the basement Jack was relieved that so far, things were as they would be in the future. Reaching the entrance to the station, he pushes on the door. Thankful when it opened.

Eloise turns around when she hears the door open she hadn't been expecting anyone. She is shocked by the group of visitors that file into the Dharma Station.

"What is this?" she asks the assembled group.

"Who are you people and how did you find this room?"

It was Jack who stepped forward. "Because some of us have been here before Eloise"

Eloise studies his face, and the faces of those in the assembled group. That day on the island comes tumbling back into her mind.

"It's you" she says unable to hide the surprise in her voice. "The island, the hydrogen bomb"

Jack nods, "Yes, 1977. The day you killed your son"

Eloise is taken aback momentarily, "What are you all doing here?" she asks. "I thought the point of the hydrogen bomb was to get off of the island, to erase the past."

"We were wrong", Sayid says stepping forward. "We need to go back. We've changed nothing, all those that died are dying again."

"I'm afraid going back is impossible", Eloise says with raised eyebrows.

"What do you mean impossible?" asks Kate. "It can't be impossible"

Eloise steps away from them, going back to her charts. "There is just no way, no planes are flying over the island coordinates for another three years"

"Flight 316", Jack says aloud. "We can't wait three years"

"Wait", Hurley says, "The Island Coordinates, Kate I think you've figured it out"

They all turn to look at Hurley.

"Ben hasn't moved the island in this timeline. He won't move the island until after the freighter people are there, assuming that they are still going to go there. That means, the coordinates that Ben gave to Michael to get home and the ones the freighter to find the island, will be the ones we use to get back"

"So we don't have to go by plane at all", Kate says figuring out what Hurley was trying to say.

"We go by boat", Jack steps into the conversation.

Eloise interrupts their conversation, initially shocked at their sudden arrival she did know more about the island than she was letting on. "I just have to offer you a word of warning" she starts. "This won't be easy. There is an impending war on the island. You are all still part of the game, even though you may not believe it. You must be careful if you want to succeed."

"So our plan will work then?" Jack asks turning back to her.

She nods, "Once upon a time I trusted you both," she says looking from Jack to Sayid "to erase what will happen and stop me from killing my son." She pauses, thinking of Daniel...

"Be careful and you can win the war and end this once and for all"


	25. Chapter 25

**Chapter 25**

_And again I see,  
My yesterday's in front of me,  
Unfolding like a mystery.  
You're changing all that is and used to be.  
_

"This is wrong Jack", Kate says as they are finalizing their plans to fly to Tahiti to pick up the boat they'd purchased for the trip. "We can't take Claire with us. If Claire is going to give birth to Aaron on the same day as she did the last time, we have 3 days. What happens if she runs into problems and we are in the middle of the ocean?"

"Kate, her delivery the last time went perfect. Nothing went wrong. Hopefully that means nothing will go wrong this time. Besides, this time we'll be prepared. We'll take proper equipment with us"

"_Hopefully_ things will go the same! Jack are you serious?"

"I don't see that we have much choice Kate. We don't know what is going to happen to Claire, we don't know whether she died on the island. She's my sister Kate, do you think I want to see anything happen to her?"

"Or maybe she dies in childbirth on the boat. What about Aaron?"

"Kate", says Claire entering the room. "I can do it", she says. "Remember I survived a commercial airliner crash. I gave birth on an island, with your help. At least this time we know when it's going to happen. Being on a boat will be almost luxury" she continues trying to make light of the situation.

Claire looks up at her brother, "besides, Jack won't let anything happen to us" she says placing her hands on her abdomen.

"Hurley has booked us a private jet to get us to Tahiti; we'll take the necessary supplies. This is all going to work out Kate" says Jack optimistically.

"Is everything else ready?" Sayid asks walking into the room.

"Yup", says Jack. "I think we are ready to roll"

***************************************************************************************

The only thing that gave Juliet comfort in her current situation was that Julian was blissfully unaware of the precariousness of their situation. Through his eyes, the island was a vacation like any other trip they had taken to the beach.

She missed James and Rachael like crazy, but having Julian with her proved to be a wonderful distraction.

Five days after their arrival back on the island, she was sitting on a bench at the playground watching Julian play on the swings. Ben had thankfully heeded her warnings thus far and stayed away.

"I've got your x-rays back Dr. Burke", Ethan says approaching her, sitting next to her on the bench.

Over the past few days she'd run into many familiar Others, many of whom had died prior to the reset. Each encounter still left her with a strange feeling in the pit of her stomach.

When Ethan sits next to her she can't help but think back to the day he'd been born. He was the first and only baby she'd successfully delivered on the island. Of course, she couldn't tell him that it had been her that had delivered him and furthermore that in her reality it had only been a couple a months ago.

"What's the verdict?" she finally asks.

"Everything looks like it has healed up nicely. If you are ready, we can go take those casts off. "

She is thrilled with his news and despite her mood she smiles, "Thank goodness. The humidity on the island is killing me with these things on. Let's go"

"Julian honey", she calls to the little boy. "We have to go with Doctor Ethan for a few minutes"

"The boy can stay and play", says another familiar voice.

She looks up, and is staring into the face of Goodwin. "Umm", she says knowing she'd gone completely pale again.

"Dr. Burke?" Ethan asks concerned.

She quickly pulls herself together. Of course she'd known he would be here, but knowing and seeing, she'd discovered, were two completely different things.

"Umm, I'm fine", she says embarrassed. "I just. . forget it", she says. "It's really nothing"

"The boy looks like he is having a good time", Goodwin says. "I will stay here and watch him, go with Ethan. The child will be fine. Oh, the name's Goodwin by the way"

She glances down at the little boy. She hated to pull him away from the swings, but at the same time was petrified to let him out of her sight.

"Really, its okay", she says. "I'd rather keep him with me"

"You can trust me", Goodwin replies. "I promise we'll stay right here"

Her heart sinks of course she knew she could trust him. It was Goodwin after all, "Alright", she finally consents. "We'll only be a few minutes"

She returned to the playground twenty minutes later finding Goodwin playing in the sandbox with Julian. She couldn't help but smile. At least some things had stayed the same. Goodwin was still the decent man he'd been before.

"Hey", she says approaching the man and little boy.

"You look a thousand times more comfortable" he says to her.

"Yes, it's amazing" she replies. "I was about ready to chop them off myself, the humidity here was starting to get to me"

He laughs, "It's not usually this bad, but the weather the past few weeks has been rather unusual"

She looks down to Julian who was covering Goodwin in sand.

"Looks like he's sweet talked you into playing with him."

"He's a great kid Dr. Burke" Goodwin replied.

"I can't take the credit for that, he's my sister's child", the tone of her voice changes discussing her sister.

He looks at her sceptically, "You didn't come here by choice did you?" he asks noting her sudden change in disposition.

She shakes her head. "Nope, but I'm here now and there's nothing, for now anyways, that can change that"

He continues to look at the woman. "There's something familiar about you" he says. "I just can't place it though"

"I'm sure I just have one of those faces" she replies quickly, there was no way he could possibly remember, none of the islanders besides Ben remembered.

"You're sure we haven't met before?" he asks.

She nods her head, "I'm sure"

Ben watches their interaction from the edge of the playground. He silently curses, she was here for him, and just like before she wouldn't give him the time of day. He intently watches her interaction with Goodwin, how dare the man interfere again. He may need to be taken care of again.

"Goodwin" he says approaching the pair. "I see you have met our new doctor"

He nods, "I have"

Juliet eyes Ben suspiciously "the new doctor?" she asks,

It was Ben's turn to nod, "Now that you have fully recovered I figured you might like to get to work. We have a number of pregnant women that need care."

Working would give her the opportunity to get a good idea about what was really happening with the island and it would be a good distraction. She glances at Julian and Ben doesn't miss this.

"My daughter Alex will watch Julian while you work" he says. He gives her another look which says you remember Alex, don't you.

"I'll think about it" she says not willing to make any promises. She was not willing to fall into any of Ben's traps, and needed to be smart about any decisions she made.

Goodwin gets up and brushes the sand off of him self, "Well I should get back to work. I'll see you later" he says turning and walking away, leaving Ben and Juliet alone.

Once alone, Juliet's demeanour towards Ben changes. She glares at Ben with her piercing blue eyes.

"What is it really Ben?" she asks. "I'm sure that you didn't really bring me here to look after the island's pregnant women. We both know that Ethan is quite capable of that"

He gives her an equally piercing glare but doesn't say anything.

"They aren't going to come after me you know" she finally says, breaking the silence.

"Oh I think they will" he retaliates. "If Sawyer loves you like he says he does, he'll convince them all to come"

"That day on the dock, you said there was a war coming, what did you mean by that?"

"Good against bad, white against black" he says simply.

She shakes her head, "I don't understand"

"You will, in time" he says getting up and walking away leaving her wondering what he'd meant.

*****************************************************************************************

Meanwhile, at the base of the statue...

Two men were sitting by a fire talking, one dressed in white one dressed in black...

"I told you they were coming" the man in white tells the man in black. "I give you credit though, you were close that time. For a few moments there I really thought you'd found your loophole"

The man in black glares at the man in white, "I may have lost that battle, but I will win the war"

The man in white stands laughing cynically, and walks away. "We'll see about that" he says without turning to face the other man.

Out on the horizon a boat can be seen approaching the island...


	26. Chapter 26

**Okay, here you have it, Chapter 26. This is getting harder and harder to write with each chapter but we are getting closer to the end.**

**Chapter 26**

_On a prayer,  
In a song,  
I hear your voice,  
And it keeps me hanging on.  
Oh, raining down, against the wind.  
I'm reaching out,  
'Till we reach the circle's end.  
When you come back to me again._

When you come back to me again.

Sayid had taken over for his shift of steering the boat. He watched Sawyer as he sat at the edge of the deck looking out over the horizon for any sign of the island. They had all worried about him. He barely spoke and when he did he seemed to have reverted back to the angry man he'd once been. For the most part they'd all just left him alone, although this posed some difficulty considering they were on a boat in the middle of the ocean. The only one that seemed to be able to keep him in check was Rachael and they'd all assumed it was because she reminded him of Juliet.

"How are Claire and the baby?" Sayid asks when he sees Jack climb up the ladder onto the deck.

"Doing wonderfully" he replies. "She had just as easy of a delivery as she had the last time".

"So all is going according to plan so far" he asks.

Jack nods, "So far so good". He notices Sawyer sitting at the edge of the boat.

"Has he been sitting there all morning?"

Sayid nods, "Tried to get him to talk to me but all I get is sarcastic Sawyer"

"Are we still on course?" asks Jack

"Right on target, based on the coordinates we should start seeing the island by sundown"

Sun and Jin come up onto the deck.

"What are our plans when we get there?" Jin asks.

"We need to find the statue", Sun pipes up.

The three men look at her questioningly and she continues to speak. "This morning I had more flashes of memories. After Flight 316 landed, I stayed in the present, the rest of you landed in 1977" She proceeds to tell them what happened to her after flight 316 up until the flash when she was back in their current present with Jin.

"But John died before Flight 316" Sayid says confused.

She nods, "Except that John was alive again after Flight 316 landed"

"He couldn't have just come back to life", says Jack. "The island was a lot of things, but resurrection?"

"Okay, let's look at what we know" replies Jin. "You all said that John died this time after 815, he was listed by the media as a casualty of the curse"

Jack nods, "Four days after 815 landed in LA he died of a brain aneurism". He pauses a moment and then continues. "You said Ben was with you after 316 landed" he says directing is comment to Sun.

Sun nods, "He seemed to follow John's every command"

"So, whoever or whatever John was, he had taken over power from Ben?" asks Sayid.

"It seemed that way to me" replied Sun. "John told Ben he wanted to talk to Jacob. Richard Alpert led us all to the statue. It was shortly after Ben and Locke went inside that the flash happened."

Sawyer had been listening to their conversation and he finally gets up and goes over to the group.

"So, did the flash happen because Juliet detonated the damn hydrogen bomb, like we first thought it did? Or because of whatever happened inside that statue?" he chimes in, first in an angry tone and then softening just a bit.

They all look up at him, surprised he'd joined their conversation.

"I guess that's what we need to figure out" says Jack.

"_What if everything that happened here, happened for a reason" _John's voice rings through Jack's head.

Jack had been trying to remember his previous encounters with John Locke. Had there been truth to what the man had been trying to tell him? Before John had killed himself, in their alternate life he'd written Jack a letter. "_I wish you had believed me"_ were the only six words written on the piece of paper. Was there more to the meaning of that letter? He now wondered.

"When we get to the island then, first we go after Juliet then we go for the statue?" Jin asks, looking towards Sawyer.

"Sounds like we have a plan then", says Sayid. "When we find the island, we'll try to circle the boat around as close to the Dharma barracks as we can."

Sawyer leaves the group and goes down into the boat.

"Hey Sawyer", Kate says turning from the table when she hears him coming down the stairs.

"Freckles" he says walking by her without saying much else.

"James" she says jumping up and grabbing his arm. "Don't do this"

"Don't do what Kate?" he asks.

"Block the rest of us out" she says turning his head so they were looking eye to eye.

"You don't get it do you Freckles, none of you get it"

"Yeah James we do get it. She's not gone, Ben isn't going to hurt her"

He looks down. "I made her a promise Freckles, I promised her I would kill Ben before I ever let him get his hands on her"

Before she can speak they are interrupted by a voice from up on the deck.

"I see it, there it is" they hear Hurley's voice.

Both scramble up the steps and onto the deck, in the distance they can see land.

James says a silent prayer hopefully soon this would all be over.

**********************************************************************************

Juliet opens her front door and is greeted by Alex.

"Hey Alex", she says opening the door further letting the young woman in her house.

"Hi Dr. Burke"

"Call me Juliet, please. Julian's still sound asleep, so you should have a bit of quiet time this morning"

For the past three mornings, Alex had been coming over to watch Julian while Juliet worked at the clinic. Still recuperating from her accident she had found that by lunchtime she was exhausted and needed to come home to rest for the afternoon. She had decided that while she waited for whatever was going to happen she at least needed to be productive. In the alternate past she'd had a great relationship with Alex, and that same relationship seemed to have been built in this reality. She'd been nervous the first morning when she'd left Julian with the young woman but when she'd come home and found Julian curled up on the couch with her she decided that in this reality too, Alex would be one that she could trust. As well as feeling productive, working at the clinic allowed her to get to know the people of Dharma-Ville. She found that the majority of the people she remembered. There were very few members of the 'Others' that she didn't recognize. Thus far, it seemed that Ben was the only one that remembered their other reality.

"You now where to find me if you need me. I'll be home at lunchtime", she tells Alex as she heads out the door.

She runs into Goodwin as she walks through the Barracks to the clinic.

"Mornin' Dr. Burke" he says catching up with her and walking with her.

"Hey Goodwin" she says, keeping pace with him.

"I hear you are working at the clinic now, that's great" he says.

In the distance she can see Ben glaring at the pair of them. She stops and looks at Goodwin. During the night she had come up with a plan which she needed Goodwin's help with.

"Come to the clinic later, I need to talk to you" she says. "Make sure that Ben doesn't see you come"

He looks at her sceptically.

"Please Goodwin, don't ask questions. Just come alone"

He nods, turns and walks away from her. She looks back at Ben, he had a smirk on his face. She shoots him icy blue glare, turns and walks towards the clinic.

"Be damned if Ben is going to take away anyone or anything else I care about" she thinks to herself.

Two hours later the clinic was empty. She turns when she hears his voice.

"You came" she says somewhat surprised.

"I almost didn't" he replies, "But I can't shake this feeling of familiarity that I have for you. I had to come"

She approaches the door, looking out and then locking it behind her. She turns back to Goodwin.

"I need to ask you something, and you can't ask questions because I can't tell you the answers" she says.

He looks at her with an unsure look.

"I need you to take Alex and Julian and get away from the Barracks

"But" he starts.

"You are right", she says before he can continue. "There is a reason that I am familiar to you. We have met before, but I can't explain it right now.

"Juliet" he says shaking his head. "That's crazy, why would I take Alex and Julian and leave?"

"Because", she starts. "Things are going to happen here and I don't want any of you caught in the cross fire"

"Where should we go?" he asks.

"Hydra Island" she says. "You'll be safe there, I think"

"You think?"

"Goodwin, I don't know exactly what's going to happen. Ben brought me here against my will. He kidnapped my nephew and forced me to come back to the island"

"Come back to the island?" he looks at her sceptically. "Juliet, I think you need to explain this all a little better"

"I can't explain, not yet. I can tell you that there are people coming for me and for Julian. When they get here Ben is going to fight. I don't want you, Alex or Julian caught in the crossfire. When it's all over I promise, I will tell you everything. But I need you to do this for me. I need you to keep Julian safe"

For a few moments he thinks it over, "Alright" he finally says, shrugging his shoulders. "I don't understand this one bit, but I'm going to trust you" he tells her.

"Thank you. When this is all over I will come back to Hydra Island to get you. Don't come back till we come for you"

"Got it" he says with a nod, "I'll make the necessary arrangements. We'll leave after dark tonight" he says.

"And I'll make sure Alex and Julian are both ready" she says.

He turns and leaves the clinic leaving Juliet alone again. "This has to work", she thinks to herself.


	27. Chapter 27

**Hey Everyone! I'm just curious if people are still reading? This saga has gone on and on, which was never my intention. I've lost some of my momentum with writing this and it's so close to the end. If you are still reading and have some ideas to get us to the end either send them my way via review or message, or just let me know if you are still reading.**

**Chapter 27**

It hadn't taken Juliet long to convince Alex to go with Goodwin and Julian to the Hydra Station. It seemed that in this reality Alex had the same anger for Ben she'd had in their other life.

Julian had been upset initially over leaving Juliet but quickly got excited when he learned his new friends were going to take him on an adventure.

Her own anxiety reached a peak when it actually came time to let Goodwin and Alex leave with Julian. She so wanted to go with them, but knew in order for her plan to work she needed to stay at the barracks. She had been able to keep her emotions under control until she'd watched the trio disappear into the darkness.

She had closed and locked her door, sat on the couch and sobbed.

She isn't sure what time she'd fallen asleep but when she woke the sun was streaming through the windows.

After a shower she is able to pull herself together enough to head to the clinic. She needed to ensure that Goodwin and Alex had enough time to get Julian to the Hydra station without anyone figuring out they were gone.

********************************************************

The group had arrived at the island during the night.

The boat was anchored a ways off shore. It was decided that Sun would stay with Claire and Aaron on the boat. If the need arose Sun could move the boat, and could also defend it.

The rest of the group took a raft into the island. It took a bit of looking around until they figured out exactly where they landed. Thankfully, they were only a few hours hike away from the barracks.

Rachael had been in awe as the island had come into their view. While she had 'believed' the stories the others had told her, seeing was definitely making it become reality.

"I can't believe Jules spent six years living on this island" she says falling into step with James.

"Believe it" he says. "I know it seemed pretty unrealistic when we told you about this place, but it really did happen" he tells her.

"Yeah" she says, "I'm figuring that out"

"When we get closer to the barracks, I want you to stay close Rachael. I would have preferred if you'd stayed on the boat with Sun and Claire"

She nods, they'd argued about her coming for a few hours before they headed off the boat. He'd quickly found that she was just as stubborn as her sister.

"I know but it's my sister and my kid we are going after James, I can do this"

"Just stay close, I'll make sure you are safe" he reiterates.

In the distance they can see the pylons which surround the barracks. Kate and Jack who were up ahead of the group, stop as they approach them.

Rachael looks up in awe, "What are those?" she asks.

"Security gate" replies Hurley. "It'll kill you if you walk through and it's not shut off"

"Where do we go from here then?" she asks.

James walks up to the pylon with the keypad. "We over-ride the system, that's how" he says flipping open the panel. He knows that codes will have changed since their days in Dharma-Ville, but after three years as head of security he knew this system like the back of his hand.

He works on the panel for a few minutes, and the buzz being emitted by the pylons stops. "Okay", he says. "It's safe to come through"

"Dude, how'd you do that?" Hurley asks.

"Three years as head of Dharma Security, I know this system inside and out. Hasn't changed much since the 70's", James replies.

When the group was through, he fiddles with the panel again and reactivates the pylons. He knows that more than likely that whoever was manning the Arrow station would know that there had been a momentary breach in the pylons, but he hoped they'd be far enough away from them by the time anyone came out to investigate.

The group continues to walk.

Jack falls into step beside Kate a few feet behind the rest of the group.

"You okay?" he asks.

"Mmm Hmm", she replies.

He slides his hand into hers, "He's going to be okay Kate"

She looks over at him.

"How did you know that's what I was thinking about?" she asks surprised at his ability to read her mind.

He smiles, "Because I know you Kate and I know how much you love that baby"

"Sun and Claire will keep him safe. We'll get to watch him grow up all over again"

"But he won't be mine this time" she says sadly.

He gives her hand an encouraging squeeze. "But we'll be with him and we'll be a part of his life. You came back here the last time because you wanted to find Claire, to bring her home to him. You did what you came to do. Claire is going to get a second chance to be Aaron's mom."

He pauses for a few moments before speaking. "Maybe we'll just have to work on having our own baby"

She glances at him again, surprised, he'd never mentioned having a child of their own, even in their other life.

Seeing her look, he laughs, "I hear that things have changed on this island. Things are possible here that didn't use to be possible"

She stops walking momentarily. "Thank you, for understanding Jack" she says wrapping her arms around him.

He returns her hug, kissing her softly. "I love you Kate. Once upon a time I lost everything in my life that was good, before I realized what I'd had. I want to give you what I couldn't give you before. I want to be able to give you happily ever after. We failed in the real world because I couldn't let myself trust, I won't make those same mistakes again."

"I love you too Jack and I want the same thing", she says before she finally breaks their hug and they continue to walk.

Darkness had taken over as the group got closer to the Dharma barracks.

"Were here", James says turning and putting his hands up to stop the group. He was suspiciously surprised they'd made it this far without being caught by the Others'.

Jack and Kate arrive beside James and Rachael.

"What's the plan now?" Kate asks looking through the bushes at the barracks.

"I'm going in to get them", James replies

"You can't be serious Sawyer", says Kate.

"Walking in there is a suicide mission. Ben gets one look at you and he'll order them to shoot you first and ask questions later. We need to think this through first"

"We need to watch and wait" says Sayid, stepping into the conversation. "We need to watch what goes on, find out where Juliet is. Tomorrow night when it's dark, we'll go in and get them out"

As much as he wanted to go charging into the barracks demanding to see Juliet, he knew the others were right. It would be a suicide mission.

"Okay" he finally consents. "We'll wait for morning"

**The next morning...**

"Juliet", Ben calls, jogging to catch up to her. "Have you seen Alex this morning? Her bed wasn't slept in last night"

She stops walking, "Actually she slept over at my place" she says straight faced.

"Oh" he says surprised.

"Really Ben", Juliet says starting to walk again. "Alex is a big girl. Julian asked her to stay, she stayed. You are the one that suggested that she baby sit him while we are here", she snips.

He doesn't miss her tone. "Well just tell her I was looking for her"

The silence of the morning is interrupted by the sound of the alarm. Picket comes running towards Ben and Juliet. "Ben" he says breathless as he reaches them. "There was an accident at the Tempest station. Some of the men got burned pretty badly. Ethan's on the way out there, but he wants Dr. Burke to come"

"I'm not an emergency doctor Ben" she says jumping in before Ben could say anything.

"Well, you're better than nothing" Ben says cutting her off. "You'll go! Danny, take Juliet to the Staff, get the supplies you need. I'll head to the Tempest and tell Ethan you are on your way"

"Let's go" Danny says grabbing Juliet's wrist. "I'll take you to the Staff"

Ben heads off in the opposite direction towards the Tempest Station.  
Juliet pulls her arm from Danny's.

"I know where I'm going" she says under her breath. "I don't need a chaperone"

"Ben says I go with you, I go with you. Now let's go" he says pushing her towards the path.

On the trail to the Tempest, Ben runs into Colleen. "Ben" she says. "We have a situation. The Looking Glass has reported that a boat was approaching the island"

He smiles. "I knew they'd come"

She looks at him confused. "What do you mean you knew they'd come"

"Nothing Colleen, don't worry. They'll never make it onto the island"

"You aren't even going to find out who they are?" she asks somewhat confused.

"Colleen, it's none of your concern. Please, go back to the barracks. There's been an accident at the Tempest. I need to deal with that first and we'll deal with the boat later"

When Colleen finally walks away a smile spreads across Ben's face. "I knew they'd come. Soon they'll all be dead, and she'll be mine"


	28. Chapter 28

**Thanks again to those who send me great ideas and let me know that they were still reading. I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

**Chapter 28**

James had woken up early and was sitting at the lookout point watching the early morning action at the barracks.

Relief had flooded him when he'd seen Juliet exit one of the houses just after daylight. He couldn't help but smile when he saw her. It took everything in him to stop himself from running into the camp and pulling her into his arms.

He feels nothing but anger when he sees Ben approach her. He wanted nothing more than to get that man out of their lives once and for all.

He is confused when he hears the alarm and sees Picket run up to Ben and Juliet. He'd wished he could over hear their conversation. Whatever it was, it seemed urgent. He didn't miss the look of loathing in Juliet's eyes when she spoke to both men. At least for now she appeared to be holding her own against them.

Seeing Picket brought back not so pleasant memories of their previous encounters. The man had tried to murder him more than once. When he sees him grab Juliet's arm he almost leaps out from behind the bushes to strangle him.

He watches as Ben heads off in one direction and Picket drags Juliet off in another direction.

He runs back to the rest of the group. "Sayid, Hurley, Jin, you guys follow Linus. Rachael, Jack and Kate will come with me" he says.

They all nod in agreement.

"Be careful Kate", says Jack, touching her hand softly. "No unnecessary chances right?"

She smiles. "I could say the same for you"

"We'll meet back at the raft in a couple hours", says James. "Let's go, we can't lose sight of them"

The seven split up following their targets.  
*****************************************

James, Jack, Kate and Rachael follow Juliet and Picket to the Staff station. Picket stayed outside the staion while Juliet headed in for supplies.

Seeing they were alone, Jack, Kate and James decide it's their chance to make a move.

Keeping Rachael out of harms way, they step out from their hiding place and aim their guns towards Picket.

"Long time no see Snuffy", James says aiming his gun directly for him.

Surprised Danny pulls out a gun, not really sure who he was aiming at.

"Who the hell are you?" he asks studying each of their faces.

James steps forward.

"Not one more step" yells Danny, "I'll fire this gun"

"And so will we", Kate says stepping forward. She had not forgotten what this man had put them through on their previous island journey and had no qualms about pulling the trigger.

"We've got him Sawyer, go in after Juliet" Jack says stepping forward beside Kate.

Keeping his gun aimed at Pickett, James backs into the entrance of the Staff.

"You won't get away with this", Danny yells.

Danny lifts his gun, looking like he was about to fire at Kate. Rachael steps out from the bushes and whacks him across the side of the head with the butt of the rifle she was holding. Pickett falls to the ground unconscious.

"Rachael" says Kate running towards her. "You were suppose to stay back there"

"I know" she says with a smile. "But these people took my child. I'm not about to stand by idly and watch them kill you"

Jack bends down and checks the unconscious man's pulse. "He's still alive and likely going to be mad as hell when he wakes up. We need to find some place to stash him."

"We'll take him into the station, there's got to be something in there we can use to tie him up", replies Kate.

Jack picks up the unconscious mans arms and drags him into the open doors of the Staff station.

Inside James wandered down the dimly lit hallway searching desperately for Juliet.

"_Where the hell are you Blondie", _he wonders.

He stumbles on the medical room, she is standing with her back to the door throwing medical supplies into a box.

"Juliet"

She drops the Dharma issue bandages that were in her hand. "_I'm hearing things_"she thinks to herself.

"Blondie" he says again, a little louder this time.

She turns slowly, their eyes meet. "James" she says barely audible.

In takes him about six steps to get across the room and pull her into his arms. She buries her head into the crook of his neck as he tightens his arms around her. Her tears are openly flowing.

"What are you doing here?" she asks, voice cracking, when she finally pulls away enough to look at him.

"You don't think I was really going to let you stay here alone do you?"

"But" she starts

"No buts" he says, stopping her from replying by capturing her lips into a kiss.

When they finally break apart, she looks him in the eyes. "How did you get here? Are you alone? What if Ben finds out you're here?"

"Whoa" he says with a chuckle. "One question at a time Blondie. We came by boat" he starts.

"We?" she asks.

He nods, "The Doc, Kate, Sayid, Hugo, Sun, Jin, Claire and Rachael. . ", he trails off.

"They all came?" she says in awe, they'd all given up their lives to come back to the island for her. It was then that the last name he'd said hit her. "Rachael?" she asks.

"There was no leaving her behind" he says. "Turns out she's as stubborn as her sister" he says with a small chuckle.

She hits him softly on the shoulder.

He then looks at her seriously. "Are you okay? Did they hurt you?" he asks, trailing his fingers down her cheek, and then taking her hands in his.

She nods, "I'm fine. They haven't hurt either of us. Julian is fine too. . ", she trails off, looking down towards the floor.

He lifts her chin. "What is it?" he asks.

"Julian", she says looking him in the eyes. "I had Alex and Goodwin take him to Hydra Island. I needed to make sure he was safe"

"And Linus was okay with that?" he asks

"He doesn't know. I sent them off last night after dark."

Before he can respond they are interrupted by Jack, Kate and Rachael.

Juliet catches sight of Rachael, and the two sisters run into each others waiting arms. "Rachael I'm sorry" Juliet sobs, clinging to her sister. "I'm sorry you and Julian got dragged into this"

"Shh", Rachael says pulling away from Juliet, wiping away her sister's tears. "Where's Julian Jules?" "Is he okay?"

Juliet nods, "He's perfect Rach he thinks we are on a vacation"

Rachael lets out a small laugh. "That's my boy"

She notes the look in Juliet's eye. "What is it Jules, where is he?"

"I sent him to another Dharma station called Hydra Island. He's with friends of mine, he's safe there"

"Pickett", Juliet says finally remembering he was outside waiting for her.

"Don't have to worry about him", Jack says stepping forward, hugging Juliet.

"Your sister here has a mean swing. She knocked him out cold. We tied him up, he'll be out for awhile and then it will take him awhile to get himself untied. We have a good head start"

Kate steps forward, hugging Juliet as well. "Good to see you again Juliet".

Juliet looks to Rachael, who shrugs her shoulders. "They kidnapped my son Jules, what'd you expect me to do"

It was Juliet's turn to laugh. James walks over to her, sliding his hand in hers. "Let's get going. We need to find Sayid, Hugo and Jin and then get back to the boat"

Juliet looks at them confused.

"I'll explain it all while we walk Blondie", James replies.

"Let's go then", says Jack leading the group from the room.

Three hours later they are on the beach at the raft, waiting for Sayid, Hugo and Jin.

On the walk back to the beach he hadn't let go of her hand. He needed to keep her close. He had filled Juliet in on how they got back to the island and she had filled him in on what had transpired since she'd been brought back.

An hour after arriving at the raft they were joined by the rest of the group.

"You found her", Hurley says pulling Juliet up off the ground in a big bear hug.

"Good to see you too Hurley" she laughs.

"What happened at the Tempest?" James asks, Juliet having filled them in on where Ben had taken off too.

"Some kind of accident", says Sayid. "Couple of guys got burned pretty badly"

"Ben went crazy when you didn't show up Juliet" says Jin. "He sent a group of people to the Staff to find you"

James steps behind and protectively closer to Juliet, pulling her into his arms.

"We better get back to the boat then" he starts. "Juliet had a couple of the Others' take Julian to the Hydra Island. We need to get to him before anyone else does."


	29. Chapter 29

**OKay, update is quicker than I had thought. This chapter sort of moves us forward and sort of moves us nowhere ;)... It was fun to write though! Thanks to everyone who continue's to read and review. Chapter 29, LOL I never dreamt this story would still be going at this point, and it is not over yet!!!**

**Chapter 29**

"Hey", he says sitting down beside her on the deck of the boat.

She is startled from her thoughts at the sound of his voice. "Oh hi" she says gazing over at him and smiling.

He places his hand over hers, squeezing it. "You okay?" he asks. "You've been pretty quiet since we got on the boat"

"I'm okay Jack" she says looking over at him.

"You're sure?"

She glances behind her, expecting to see James.

"He sent you out here didn't he, doctor or friend?" she asks turning back to look at him.

"Both" he says honestly. "He's just worried about you Juliet, and honestly so am I."

"You guys don't have to worry" she replies.

"You're right" he says. "We don't have too, but we do, so humour me"

She laughs. "I'm fine Jack, honest. The only lasting effect from the accident seems to be that I tire out easily."

"You've been taking it easy?" he asks.

She laughs again, "Yes doctor. The island has actually been pretty uneventful till today"

"Good" he says seemingly satisfied that she was telling the truth.

He stands and then offers her a hand helping her up.

"We'll be at Hydra Island within two hours" he says.

She nod's, she was worried about what they would find when they got there but for Rachael sake she needed to keep that worry under wraps.

Jack doesn't miss the look on her face, but for now doesn't probe her further.

"Hey gorgeous", James says seeing her come down the steps into the boat. She takes his outstretched hand, and sits down on his lap, kissing him softly.

"Thanks for worrying" she says between kisses.

"Ah", he says with a fully dimpled smile. "You seem to be making it my new full time profession" he teases. He wraps his arms around her, hugging her to his body. "I was just coming to find you" he says. "I was just thinking maybe you would like to rest for a bit before we got to the Hydra"

"Ah, rest", she says letting a yawn escape from her. "Sounds like a good idea" she says getting back onto her feet. Hand still clasped in his, he stands and she leads him to their room.

He shuts the door behind them and leads her to the bed. Once she is settled, he lays down beside her so they are facing one another. He tucks her hair behind her ear, leans in and kisses her passionately.

"I missed you", he says. "When we got to the pier and I realized you were gone with Ben", he pauses. "I wasn't sure I would ever see you again"

"I", she starts and pauses. . "I know that I promised I would never leave you like that, but I couldn't just let Ben take Julian."

He places his fingers over her lips to stop her. "Juliet, don't" he says. "I wish you had waited but I understand". He can see her fighting to keep her eyes open.

"Rest Blondie" he says pulling her into his arms. "I'll be here when you wake up"

She closes her eyes and is quickly asleep.

************************

Ben was furious when Pickett failed to bring Juliet to the Temple.

Once the situation was under control he raced back to the barracks. He sent Tom and Colleen to the Staff station to track down the whereabouts of Juliet and Danny.

Finding the clinic empty he goes straight for Juliet's house. He throw's open the door without knocking. "Juliet? Alex?" he calls out. He goes room to room searching for anyone, only to be met with empty rooms each time.

"Dammit" he curses running out of the house. Searching the various areas of the barracks where Alex may have taken the kid, he was met each time with the same story, "Haven't seen them Ben." His frustration was growing by the second.

"What were they up too?" He remembers his conversation with Colleen this morning about the boat having been spotted by the Looking Glass. There was no way they'd have been able to get to Juliet before they arrived on the island. He had sent some men from the Temple towards the beach and the Looking Glass station to look for the boat. They'd reported back that they couldn't track to the boat. There had also told him there had been a breach in the security fence. The men at the Arrow station had investigated but had decided it was just a glitch in the system. They had found no evidence that the fence had been tampered with, nor seen anyone near the fence. Ben curses himself wondering if he'd under-estimated them.

"Where the hell did they go?" he thinks to himself.

The last place he headed was the beach. He knew Alex would occasionally take Julian down to the water to play. Finding it empty he looks out over the water.

"What the hell have you done Juliet" he says angrily out loud, speaking to her as if she was there with him. After a moment he turns and heads back to the barracks.

When he arrives back at the barracks he is greeted by Tom and Colleen bringing back an unconscious Picket.

"What the hell happened? Where is Juliet?" he asked running towards them.

Tom shrugs his shoulders.

"We found him like this. He hasn't woken up since we found him. There was no sign of Dr. Burke. In the supplies room we found a half filled box of supplies. Whatever happened, they made it there. . ", he trails off.

"Take him to Ethan" Ben says shaking his head.

He watches them go, and turns heading to another house.

When the door opens he's greeted by Goodwin's wife. "Harper, where's Goodwin?" he says not looking for idle chatter.

"Haven't seen him today" she says. "He left last night, told me you were sending him out to one of the other stations for a few days."

Ben becomes angrier by the second. She had duped him...

"Damn her" he says aloud.

Seeing Tom coming back out of the clinic he turns and runs towards him, leaving Harper standing in the doorway looking confused.

"Tom, get a group of men together. We need to find Dr. Burke"

"Ben", Tom starts

"Don't question me Tom" Ben yells at him. "Just do what I asked you to do."

As Tom turns to walk away Ben calls out to him again, "Oh and Tom, if she is with Goodwin place him in custody. If she's with strangers, shoot first and ask questions later" he says no longer looking to play games. He refused to let this happen again. She was his.

Having watched from afar, Richard sees Ben losing control. After Tom walks away from Ben, Richard approaches Ben.

"I told you not to bring her back here Ben" says Richard cryptically. "Jacob's list did not contain her name."

Ben glares at Richard. "You think I care what Jacob wants?" he seethes. Fresh in his mind was those moments of his previous meeting with Jacob, just prior to the island resetting itself. "What has Jacob ever done for me?" Ben asks.

Richard glares at Ben, "He let you live" he says simply and then turns and walks away.

*********************************

A few hours later she wakes, disoriented. Darkness was shining through the tiny window in their cabin.

"James" she says sitting up with a start.

He had been sitting in a chair by the door watching her sleep. "Hey" he says getting up and coming to her side. "I'm right here" he gathers her in his arms.

"It's dark out" she says, "We must be at the Hydra island by now? Why didn't you wake me up?"

"Jules you were exhausted, I tried to wake you up a few hours ago."

She runs her fingers through her hair. "We need to get going. We need to go get Julian"

"Whoa" he says grabbing her arm as she tried to get up off the bed. "Slow down Blondie"

She turns back to look at him.

"Sayid and the Doc took the others onto the island to scope out the station and make sure it's just Alex, Julian and that Goodwin guy there. It's just you, me, Claire and the baby here"

He leans in and kisses her, mumbling against her lips, "Essentially alone on this big boat" he slides his arms around her neck, deepening the kiss.

She slides her arms around him, "Hmm, and let me guess what you have on your mind" she laughs.

"Well" he says pulling away slightly. "We have been apart from one another for awhile now"

He leans in kissing her again laying her back down on the bed, continuing to kiss her, sliding his hands down over her body.

Outside their room, they can hear voices.

He pulls away from her lips slightly and groans, "Sounds like some of them are back". He sits, looking down at her flushed face.

They take a moment to pull themselves back together. He then stands and takes her hand leading her from the room. "Let's go see who is back"

"Freckles" James says seeing Kate, Sun and Jin coming down the stairs. "Did you find them?"

"We did", Kate replies. "Jin and Sun are going to stay with Claire and Aaron, I'll take you back to the others. It looks like it's still only the three of them at the Hydra. We didn't approach them yet, thought we'd better have Juliet with us"

"Good idea" Juliet replies.

She hadn't missed that James had called Kate, Freckles. He had been calling her that on a regular basis since they'd all been reunited. She had to admit the first time she'd heard it that it had bothered her, it no longer bothered her now it was a nickname, no different than any of his other nicknames. Too much had happened; she no longer doubted his love for her, or his desire for them to be together. As they had learned life was too short and unpredictable. All they needed was each other.

******************************************

Ben was pacing back and forth outside the clinic waiting to find out Danny was awake.

Ethan finally pops his head out the door. "He's awake Ben" he says.

Ben pushes by Ethan, going directly to Danny's bedside. "Where is she Danny?" he asks, unconcerned for the man lying in the bed.

Danny looks at him confused. "Where is who?" he asks Ben, rubbing the back of his head.

"Juliet, Danny, where is she?"

He gives him another confused look.

Ben grabs him by the collar, "Dr. Burke, Danny", he seethes. "You took her with you out to the Staff. Where is she?"

Colleen walks into the clinic in time to see Ben looking like he was about to shake her husband.

"Ben, stop this" she says going over to them and pulling Ben's hands off Danny's collar. "He got hit in the head Ben, he doesn't remember"

"Well he better hurry up and remember" Ben says unable to hide the anger and frustration in his voice. "We aren't going through all this again just for me to lose her again" he says as he's exiting the room.

Both Danny and Colleen look at him confused.


	30. Chapter 30

**Another quick update for you. Chapter 30, wow! The majority of this chapter is sort of a summary of what has happened so far (after 30 chapters I needed a bit of a review :)). The ending is in response to some requests that I got through review. Enjoy!**

**Chapter 30**

A half hour after leaving the boat and reaching the beach Juliet, James and Kate meet up with the rest of the group just outside the Hydra Station.

"I need to go in there alone", Juliet tells them.

James looks at her seriously, "No Juliet, I'll come with you. What if"

She puts a hand on his arm, "Its okay James, they are alone in there. It's safe. Besides, you guys need to stay out here and make sure Ben doesn't show up. I'm guessing it is only a matter of time before he gets here"

"Okay" he finally consents.

"Give us a signal when it is safe for us to come in"

"You got it" she says, giving him a quick kiss. She turns to Rachael. "I'm going to get Julian" she trails off giving Rachael a hug.

"Be careful Juliet" Rachael says, her voice full of seriousness.

"I will Rach..", Juliet replies.

She walks towards the station, glancing back at her friends. She takes a deep breath and enters the building where Goodwin and Alex were with Julian.

Both Goodwin and Alex turn when they hear the door open. Julian looks up from his toy and sees its Juliet. "Auntie Juliet" he squeals and runs towards her.

She scoops him up in her arms as Goodwin and Alex approach her. "You're here" Goodwin says smiling. "We weren't expecting you yet"

She nods, "I don't have much time. My friends are outside waiting for me"

Both Alex and Goodwin look at her surprised. "How did they get here?" they ask in unison.

"I'll explain all that on the way back to our boat" she says. "We don't have much time. I'm sure Ben won't be far behind us. It's not safe for either of you back at the barracks right now."

Again they look at her confused.

"Juliet" says Goodwin, "I think it's time for you to tell me what the hell is going on"

"I will" she says, "Just as I promised, but first. . " she turns towards the door. "My sister is outside, Julian's mother. She is waiting to see him"

"Mommy?" Julian asks touching Juliet's cheek tenderly.

She nods. "She's right outside baby" she says hugging him more closely to her.

Juliet opens the door of the building they were in stepping outside with Julian.

Taking that as a signal her friends all step out of the bushes.

Rachael's tears openly fall, seeing her son, safe in Juliet's arms.

"Mommy" Julian squeals happily, finally laying eyes on his mother. He tries to wiggle himself from Juliet's arms.

Juliet sets him down on the ground and watches as mother and son reunite. Rachael scoops Julian in her arms, snuggling him closely. Juliet goes to James waiting arms.

"Oh baby", Rachael says to the little boy. "Mommy missed you so much"

"The bad man took me and Auntie Juliet" he tells him mother rambling.

"I know honey" she tells him. "But Auntie Juliet kept you safe"

Rachael steps towards Juliet. Juliet wraps her arms around Rachael and Julian. "Thank you Juliet", Rachael says just barely holding back tears. "Thank you for keeping him safe"

Julian breaks the reunion by looking to Alex and Goodwin. "We have new friends" he says gesturing towards the pair, who were standing back and watching the unfolding scene.

Juliet takes James' hand and leads him to Alex and Goodwin. "Alex, Goodwin, this is my husband James and my sister Rachael."

Goodwin takes James hand. "Thanks for keeping them safe" James tells him. "I owe you more than you know"

It was Alex's turn to step forward now, "Can you guys please tell us what is going on" she asks.

"First we need to get back to the boat" Jack says stepping forward. "We are sitting ducks out here when Ben figures out where we are. At this point we are safer out on the boat"

Alex glances up at the swirling sky, "We may be safer from my father on your boat, but it's going to storm again. I think we need to stay here at the Hydra Station, by the looks of the sky it is going to get nasty again"

Goodwin nods in agreement with Alex, "The weather has been unpredictable the last few weeks, looks like it's going to be another crazy night" he says.

James looks at Juliet, "I need to go back to the boat, get Sun and Jin to move it to a safer place to ride out the storm"

She is about to say she'd come with him when he continues, "You stay here, you've spent enough time today trouncing through the jungle"

"But" she starts.

"Don't Jules" he says taking her hand, he can see it in her face she was already exhausted again. Despite her long nap, the walk from the barracks to the raft and then from the raft to the Hydra station had about done her in. "Stay here with the others"

Sayid steps up, "I'll go, you guys both stay here"

Satisfied James nods, "Thanks man, we'll catch up with you in the morning."

As Sayid heads back off into the jungle towards the raft, raindrops start to fall from the sky.

"Let's get inside", Alex says leading the group back into the building they'd been staying in.

Once inside Goodwin looks to Juliet, "I think it is time that you told me what is going on. We helped you, no questions asked but now we need to know the truth"

"Alright" she finally concedes. "You are right it's time that you knew the truth. But first, you have to know that because you have helped me both of your lives are in danger."

As the storm continues to intensify outside, the group sits and Juliet begins to explain to Alex and Goodwin everything that had happened up until she was reunited with them on the island.

When she finally finishes, both Alex and Goodwin look at her with glazed over eyes.

"Juliet", Goodwin says. "You really expect us to believe that we have lived all this before?"

"Well", she says looking him in the eyes. "This, what is happening right hasn't happened before. From the moment that I woke up in my bedroom in Miami on September 8th, it has all been new. But everyone from Flight 815 that died before has died again in this reality."

Both Alex and Goodwin look to each other and then back to Juliet. "But you said that we both died?" it was more of a question than a comment.

Juliet nods, "Yes, but we don't know what is going to happen on the island. It seems that the island is different. No one has died on the island that died previously"

Before either of them speak she continues, "I couldn't take any chances though, that is why I sent both of you away"

Juliet looks over at James, and then back at Goodwin. "The other morning when you were walking with me, I saw Ben watching us. The look in his eyes was pure evil. He believes that I belong to him and he would kill anyone that interfered with that. That is why you died before Goodwin, because I loved you. I sent you away because I'm fairly certain that he was going to have you killed again. That is why you and Alex both have to stay hidden until all of this is over"

"Till all of what is over Juliet?" Alex asks.

"There is some kind of war coming, according to Ben. He said that was the reason that he wanted all of us back here. That Jacob wanted us here. I wish that I knew more, but for now that is all I can tell you."

Outside, the thunder rumbles and lightening flashes through the sky. The wind had picked up whipping around anything that wasn't secured to the ground.

"Some kind of war?" James asks, now confused himself.

Juliet nods, "He was pretty evasive about it. He said it was good against bad, black against white. When I questioned further he said I would know when the time was right"

"Sounds to me like Ben has lost his marbles", Hurley says chiming in with his opinion.

Some of the others nod in agreement. "I think that his obsession with you has reached a new peak Jules", James says. "I think he would have said anything to get you back here with him"

"But he seemed pretty sure that by bringing me here the rest of you would follow. He seemed to want all of us here"

"Revenge probably" Hurley pipes up. "We all got off the island even if it wasn't the way we had planned to get off the island. Ben was dead set against any of us ever leaving here"

Jack shakes his head. "I'm more inclined to believe Juliet" he says. "Ben wanted us all back here for something bigger than just his obsession with Juliet. We need to be prepared for anything. Besides, remember what Sun said about what happened at the statue right before we were all reset. Once this storm is over we need to go there"

Jack looks to Goodwin and Alex. "What can you tell us about Jacob?"

They both shrug their shoulders. "None of us have ever met him. Far as I know, Jacob sends his instructions to Ben through Richard Alpert"

"Does Alpert live in the barracks?" Kate asks the pair.

Goodwin shakes his head. "Not always, he comes in and out of the barracks on a regular basis though"

"We seem to be able to trust him in the 1970's", says James. "Can he be trusted now?"

Goodwin nods, "I think so, but again he is mysterious, most of us have never really had a conversation with him. He mostly only speaks to Ben"

Suddenly there is a loud crash of thunder and a crash as a gust of wind causes a flying branch to break though one of the nearby windows.

James feels Juliet jump in his arms at the sound of the crash.

Juliet glances over at Julian who was asleep in Rachael's arms he hadn't seemed to have budged at the noise.

Jack and Kate get up and go over to the window to investigate. Jack grabs her arm and pulls her aside just in time to avoid a second branch flying through the broken window. He pulls her into his arms. "That was too close Kate", he tells her looking into her eyes.

"It is getting crazy out there", Jack continues turning back to the group. "In all those months on the island I don't remember there ever being a storm like this"

Goodwin stands, moving over to Jack and Kate. He glances out the broken window, "I've lived on this island for many years. It has only been in the past few weeks that the weather has been intensifying. This is the worse storm yet. I think we need to move away from all the windows. The way it is shaping up out there it could turn into a long night."

"I hope they are okay on the boat", Juliet says leaning her head back, to talk to James. "It won't be safe out there".

"They'll be okay. Sun, Jin and Sayid are all pretty proficient at sailing. They will move the boat to shelter and they have the raft if they need to get off. Don't worry. In the morning we'll head out and track them down" he tries to sound reassuring, although he himself was worried for their friends who were battling out this storm on the boat.

*********************************

It had been a very long night, but by morning the storm had blown itself out. By noon, when none of the people from the boat had returned to the Hydra station, the decision was made that some of them would head out to scout around for the rest of their group.

James and Juliet prepare to head off in one direction and Jack and Kate prepare to head off into another direction. The others will stay at the Hydra station.

James reaches out a gun for Juliet, "Sure you are up for this Blondie?" he asks. "You could stay here with your sister and Julian"

She takes the gun and tucks it into her jeans. "I'm coming James" she says without second thought.

He can see the stubborn look of determination on her face and knows there is no sense in arguing with her.

"Alright" he smiles.

"We'll meet back here by sundown?" Jack says to them.

James nods, "See you then." They head off into the jungle towards the beach where the boat was last seen.

Working their way towards the beach was slow going, the storm had downed a lot of trees and debris was scattered everywhere.

Just as they are approaching the beach, the sky darkens again and the wind begins to pick up again. James grabs Juliet's hand, leading her under the shelter of the trees as the sky's open up and the rain begins to pour down again.

"We need to find some shelter" he says yelling through the noise of the thunder which had come up just as suddenly as the wind and the rain.

"This way", she says turning. "I know someplace we can go"

She leads him to a small Dharma shelter a quarter mile from where they had entered the beach. It was even slower moving through the wind and the rain and took them twice as long as it normally would have to reach the shelter. James was scoping out the area to ensure they were alone as she cleared away the branches which hid the door to the station. Onve the doorway was cleared she pulls on the door, praying it opened.

Just as she is pulling open the door there is another loud crash of thunder, lightening hits a nearby tree, breaking off a large tree limb. She turns in time to see the limb falling.

"James, watch out" she yells. He turns to see what she is warning him of, and jumps but is unable to avoid being hit by the large limb.

She watches as he drops to the muddy ground.

"James" she screams running to him and dropping on her knees beside him. She pulls at the heavy tree limb, using all her strength to pull it off of him.

"Come on James" she says sliding her fingers into his neck to check his pulse, "Wake up honey, we need to get out of the storm."

She was encouraged but his strong pulse but wanted desperately for him to open his eyes. She does a quick survey of his body looking for injuries. As the storm intensified it had gotten darker and darker out. She needed to get him inside to properly look him over, but at the same time was afraid to move him when he wasn't awake in case she injured him more. She glances over at the entrance to the shelter a few feet away. She had no choice she needed to get him inside.

She slides her hands under his arms, and drags him towards the shelter.


	31. Chapter 31

**I think this might be my favourite chapter so far. Enjoy!**

**Chapter 31**

It wasn't an easy task, she finally manages to get him into the shelter. She flipped the light switch and almost cheered when the light flickered on. She glances around the shelter there was not much in it but that didn't matter, it was dry at least. There was a small cot along one wall, on a nearby shelf there were some canned goods and emergency supplies. In a crate at the end of the cot there were blankets and old Dharma jumpsuits. With some difficulty she is able to get him onto the cot. Soaked right through from being out in the rain she shivered from the dampness of her wet clothing. Ignoring herself, she pulls at the buttons on James shirt and manages to get it off of him. She does the same with his pants, pulling off all his wet clothing. While undressing him she looked for injuries.

He had a large bruise across his chest. She figures he probably has a couple of broken ribs, but until he was awake and alert she wouldn't know for sure. Her biggest concern was that he hadn't regained consciousness. She bundles him in a dry blanket to keep him warm. Next she checks his eyes, and was happy to find that his pupils were equal.

Feeling along the back of his head she feels a large bump forming. "Damn" she thinks to herself, wishing he hadn't hit his head.

"Come on James" she says getting more frantic. "Enough with the napping and just wake up already" she pushes away tears that were forming in her eyes. She needed to keep it together.

Shivering again she realizes she needed to get out of her own wet clothing. She strips off her wet clothing and pulls out an old Dharma jumpsuit and another blanket from the box. She pulls on the jumpsuit and wraps the blanket around her self. The temperature seemed to have dropped rapidly and she was freezing. She pulls the blanket tighter around her.

She wasn't sure how much time had passed, but it felt like hours when Juliet finally sees movement on the cot. She hears his moans of pain as he tries to move.

"Shh" she says moving closer to him, kneeling next to the cot. "You're okay"

"It hurts" he says breathless, putting his hand to his chest.

"Yeah" she says sympathetically placing her hand over his. "I think you broke some ribs" she tells him.

"Sonofa. . " he starts and stops to catch his breath.

"How's your head?" she asks, turning her attention to his head. She runs her fingers along the bump at the back of his head. "You've been out of it for awhile"

"Where are we?" he asks as his eyes fully open and he looks uneasily around the room.

"In an old Dharma shelter" Juliet replies. "It started to storm again and you got hit by a falling tree limb"

He looks at her confused and tries to sit up, struggling to catch his breath from the pain.

"Don't" she says putting a hand on his chest.

"You don't remember?" she asks.

He shakes his head. "Last thing I remember was finding you at the Staff station"

"That was almost two days ago James" she says with worry in her voice.

She asks him a series of questions and puts him through a series of tests to check on his neurological status. She is encouraged when he is able to answer the majority of the questions and the tests are all normal. She attributes the short term memory loss to a concussion. She fills him in on the past two days since they'd been reunited.

"Looks like we need to keep you awake for awhile" she tells him. "Just to make sure you are okay"

"Blondie", he says. "We need to get back to the hydra station, you said that is where the others are"

"You are in no shape to go anywhere" she tells him. "James, you can't even sit up"

"I can" he says stubbornly, trying one more time and then lays back down when the pain hits him with full intensity.

She raises her eyebrows at him, "Yeah right."

She waits until she can tell from his face that the pain started to decrease.

"We are safe here. It is crazy outside we couldn't get back to the Hydra station even if we wanted to right now, which means that Ben can't get there either. We will stay here till the storm subsides and then if you are up for it we'll go back to the Hydra station. For now, you aren't going anywhere" she says with a serious tone in her voice.

"Hmmph" he grumbles under his breath. He glances around the tiny shelter, noticing for the first time their clothes hanging off the furniture to dry. He glances under the blanket and realizes that she had stripped all his clothes off.

He grumbles, "Go figure, first time I have you alone in weeks and I'm in no shape to take advantage of it"

She can't help but laugh. "Leave it to you James Ford, with a concussion and broken ribs and who knows what other injuries, to think of that first"

He shrugs his shoulder, wincing slightly as he did so. "Can you blame me?" he asks with a dimpled smile.

She smiles back at him and shakes her head.

******

Jack and Kate had found Sayid, Sun, Jin, Claire and the baby on the beach. During the night storm they had been forced to abandon the boat, it just hadn't been safe. Debris from the boat had scattered up on the beach. Their way home was now gone, they were essentially stuck on the island once again.

They gathered up as many of their belongings and they could carry and headed back towards the Hydra station. Just as they were getting back to the station the sky had opened up and the storm had started again.

Rachael and Hurley watch with curiosity as they enter the station with all of their belongings.

"What happened Dude?" Hurley asks Jack.

"The boat is gone, the storm was just too much"

Rachael and Hurley both look at them with surprise.

"Gone?" Rachael asks. "That means .. . " she pauses.

"Our way home is gone. We are stuck here again" Kate says finishing her sentence.

Rachael looks down at Julian.

Sayid notes the look that Rachael was giving her child.

"It is okay" Sayid says approaching her and wrapping an arm around her shoulder. "Everything will be okay"

The moment is interrupted by a huge crash of thunder. Claire jumps and baby Aaron cries out. Claire hugs the baby close to her.

Kate looks out the window. "It is getting crazy out there again"

Jack nods, and looks back to Goodwin and Alex.

"Sawyer and Juliet, they haven't come back yet?" he asks, more of statement than a question.

"Haven't seen them since you all left this morning", Goodwin says. "It has been pretty quiet here. No sign of Ben either. I'm guessing that the weather is slowing him up too."

Jack nods, "Glad to hear it has been quiet." He looks out the window, feeling uncertain about the fact that Sawyer and Juliet hadn't returned yet.

Kate puts a hand on his shoulder. "They'll be alight. They know how to take care of themselves out there"

Rachael walks over to Jack and Kate, followed by Sayid who stands next to Rachael.

"Should we go out and look for them?" she asks.

It was Kate who replied. "I was just telling Jack they would be okay. They survived on this island for a long time. They both know where to find shelter. We'll go looking when the storm subsides"

*******************

Tom and some of the other men headed back to the Barracks. They had searched the island and found no sign of Juliet or anyone else for that matter. They had spent the night at the Staff station riding out the storm and were just getting back to the Barracks when the next storm started.

Tom leaves the other men and heads to Ben's house. Ben opens the door as he approaches.

"Did you find them?" he asks, with no concern for the fact that the men had been out searching the island in the crazy weather.

Tom shakes his head. "No sign of anyone"

"Dammit" Ben curses. "Where did you look? They could not have just disappeared"

"Between all of us that you sent out, we've searched a good portion of the island"

Ben puts his hands to his head thinking, wondering where they could be. "Hydra" he finally says. "That's where they must be"

Tom looks out the window. "Hydra's a possibility, but we aren't going there today. It would be suicidal to be out on the water in this weather Ben"

Ben glances out the window and curses again. If they had a boat they could be long gone from the island by now. But he also knew Tom was right, the weather had been intensifying. Last night's storm was brutal, and the one shaping up now was worse. "Fine" he finally consents. "As soon as this clears, get a team together. We'll head out as soon as the weather breaks."

**********************

Juliet notices that James eyes were drifting closed again.

"Hey", she says touching his cheek gently, "I know it is hard and I know you are in pain but you need to stay awake for awhile longer"

"Sorry Blondie" he says turning his head to look at her, "I'm just so tired"

"I know you are, but it is important. I have an idea" she finally says trying to come up with a way to keep him awake and talking to her. "While you were unconscious earlier I was remembering our times in the Dharma Initiative"

He smiles, "Good memories"

She smiles back at him, "Some of my favourites. Do you remember our first Christmas together?" she asks.

He smiles again. "How could I forget that?" he asks. "It was probably the first Christmas I enjoyed since I was five years old"

He continues to grin, "And the first time I told you that I loved you"

** Flashback**

"_Jules" he calls out when he enters their shared house, "Where are you?" _

_She leans her head out from her bedroom she'd just gotten out of the shower and was getting dressed. _

"_I'll be right out" she calls, "Just getting dressed"_

_It was Christmas Eve, the first that they were spending in Dharma-Ville. He had moved in with Juliet a few weeks earlier. She had been living with Amy and he had been living with Jin and Miles when another house had become available. _

_Over the months they had spent in Dharma-Ville they had continued to become close. When Horace had offered them the house, it seemed logical to them that since they were best friends that they could manage to live together. After all, they spent all their free time together anyways. It seemed everyone else in Dharma-Ville knew what they didn't; they were destined to be together. _

_Miles had teased him when he found out James was moving in with Juliet. _

"_Knew it was only time before you made a move on her buddy"_

"_We're just friends", James had argued back._

"_Yeah right", Miles had argued. "It's time that you guys admit to each other what the rest of us already know"_

_James had just smiled back at him, this wasn't an argument that he intended to have with Miles. But deep down he knew Miles was right. He had been feeling things for Juliet that he'd never felt for anyone before. Living with her had only intensified those feelings. _

_Having found her getting ready to go, James had gone into his own bedroom to get dressed for the Christmas Eve dinner they were attending at Horace's house._

_When he came back to the living room she was seated on the couch with her nose in a book, the sight of her took his breath away. He wasn't use to seeing her dressed up, and the short black dress she was wearing, "Wow" he can't help but saying._

_She looks up from her book and smiles at him. "You clean up pretty nice yourself". She sets her book down on the coffee table and stands. "Ready to go?" she asks standing up._

_He steps closer to her, "Ummm", he starts. "Those Dharma Jumpsuits do nothing for you" he says. He moves closer to her, so they were almost touching._

_She raises an eyebrow at him. _

"_Blondie" he starts, and then stops._

"_Just spit it out James" she says touching his hand. "What is it?" She suddenly wonders what he was going to say maybe he didn't want to live together anymore._

"_It's just" he starts again, wondering why all of the sudden he was so nervous. He'd been rehearsing this all day. _

_She can't help but smile at his nervousness. _

"_The past few weeks we have been living together, they have been amazing"_

_She nods somewhat relieved that he wasn't going to tell her he didn't want to live with her anymore. She lets him continue....wondering where all this was leading. It was very unlike him. _

"_Well actually, the entire time we've been in Dharma-Ville has been amazing. Jules. . what I'm trying to say", he looks her in the eyes and takes her hand in his. "I've never experienced anything like this before Juliet, I mean, what I feel for you" he stumbles over his words. He so wanted to get this right. _

"_James" she starts, her soft blue eyes looking in his._

_He squeezes her hand. "Juliet, I love you" he says before she can say anything else. "You are the best friend I have ever had". _

_He leans down and places his lips softly on hers. He wonders for a split second whether he'd made a mistake, but then he feels her arms around him and she relaxes, returning his kiss. They give in to the feelings they'd been trying to push aside for so many months. When they finally break apart for a breath she looks back up into his eyes, "I love you too James" she says glowing. _

_He pulls her into another kiss, and he runs his hands down her back. _

_When they finally break she looks up into his eyes. "I guess we should get going" she sighs. "Horace will be sending out the search party soon"_

_He smiles at her and takes her hand. "Let's go then"_

_During the Christmas Eve festivities it seemed that any time they had a moment together they were interrupted, all they had wanted was to spend the evening together. They stole looks and glances with each other across the busy room. Finally close to midnight the party was wrapping up._

"_Finally" he says taking her hand outside Horace's door. "I never thought we were going to get out of there"_

"_Do you think they figured it out?" she asks._

_He laughs, "Blondie, I think they've known longer than we've known"_

_She laughs knowing he was right. When they arrive back on their doorstep he pulls her into his arms. "Merry Christmas Juliet" he says kissing her softly. "Merry Christmas James" she says mumbling against his lips._

_**************************_

"So much has happened since then, so much has changed", Juliet says when he finishes talking.

"Yes, a lot has happened Jules", he starts, "But not much has changed, and whatever happens during these next few days how I feel about you will never change. I love you Juliet, more now than I ever thought possible"

"Me too James" she says leaning over, gently hugging him.

She can see his eyes starting to drift shut again. She wished she knew how long it had been since the accident. She had no concept of how much time had passed since he'd been hit. It had felt like an eternity.

"You need to stay awake a little longer James. How about something to eat?" she asks. "I'm sure there is something in one of these cans over here we can eat" she says getting up and looking over the emergency supplies on the shelf.

She pulls off a can of Dharma beans and holds it up. "Cold beans?" she says with a smile. "I know how much you enjoy the Dharma issue can goods" she teases.

He rolls his eyes at her. "Guess it's better than nothing. I am kind of hungry"

She shifts around the stuff on the shelf coming up with a can opener and a couple of spoons. She opens the can and sets it down on the shelf for a moment.

"Feel like you can sit up a bit?" she asks turning back to him.

"Maybe" he replies.

She moves over to the edge of the cot and takes his hands to help him shift to a sitting position. She could tell by the look on his face that he was in pain, but he refused to acknowledge it. It takes him a few moments to catch his breath before he speaks again.

"There, that wasn't too bad" he lies.

She gives him a sad smile, and turns back to the shelf getting the can and the spoons. She hands him a spoon. "How's this for a romantic dinner for two?" she asks.

He laughs slightly and grabs at his chest as he starts to cough.

She leans over him, placing a hand on his. "Shh", she says, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't make you laugh"

He looks up at her with fear in his eyes, which causes her internal alarm buttons to go off.

"What is it James?" she asks trying to maintain calm.

"It... hurts... Jules" he says barely above a whisper and breathless.

She can tell by his disjointed speech that he was having trouble breathing. She wonders if one of his broken ribs had punctured one of his lungs. She glances around the barren room there was nothing here to help her. She felt completely helpless, this situation was completely beyond what her medical skills were. She needed Jack's help, and here they were alone in this tiny shelter with the storm raging outside.

"Think Juliet, you can deal with this yourself" she says to herself, trying to calm herself before she spoke.

She runs her fingers through his hair she needed to keep him from panicking. "Shh" she says soothingly. "Slow your breathing." She herself takes slow deep breaths in through her nose and out through her mouth. "Come on James, you can do this. Work with me"

She subtly slides her fingers around his wrist, checking his pulse.


	32. Chapter 32

**Sorry for the long time between updates. Unfortunately this may be the way the rest of the story goes. I'm at the end of what I had previously written, with minimal time right now to write. My new goal is to finish this before season 6 starts :)... Thanks to everyone who continues to read and review. If I haven't sent you a response I apologize, life is wacky these days.**

**Chapter 32**

Rachael had been going stir crazy waiting for the storm to end. She couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. The last time she'd felt this way had been the day that Juliet had gotten hurt. The sisters had always had a bond and that bond had been intensified over the past few months.

Sayid can see Rachael getting restless.

"What's up?" he asks her walking over to her.

She glances out the window. It was a little brighter outside and the rain had let up. She turns back and faces Sayid. They had gotten closer over the past few weeks. He had been a good friend to her since Julian and Juliet had been taken. During their journey to the island they'd had spent many hours sitting on the deck of the boat talking. She'd come to rely on that friendship.

"Something's not right" she tells him. "I have bad feeling about Jules"

"She's with Sawyer, he'll keep her safe" he says touching her hand reassuringly.

Rachael shakes her head. "Still, I think we need to go out and look for them. The weather is getting better, now would be the time to go"

"Rach, they'll get back here when they can" he tells her.

"Sayid, I know my sister. There is something wrong" she persists. "We need to go out and look for them"

"Hold on a minute" he says to her and walks over to Jack and Kate. Goodwin wanders over and joins their discussion. After a few moments he returns to Rachael. "Alright" he says. "Jack, Goodwin and I will go out and look for them"

"I'm coming too" she replies.

"Rach, you need to stay here with Julian"

"He'll be fine with the others for awhile. Alex will look after him."

He had learned better than to mess with her when she'd made up her mind.

"Alright" he finally gives in.

Sayid walks over to Jin and Hurley and fills them in on their plans to go and look for Sawyer and Juliet.

After gathering up some supplies, Goodwin, Jack, Sayid and Rachael head off in search of Sawyer and Juliet.

***

Juliet had finally given up and let James go to sleep. As he had fallen asleep his breathing had improved slightly and she felt somewhat more encouraged.

She was exhausted but she knew that at any moment he could take another turn for the worse and she needed to stay alert. She shivers and pulls the blanket around her tighter. Getting up she goes to the door and opens it slightly to see what the weather was like outside. It had been awhile since she had heard any thunder and hoped that meant the storm was passing for now. The rain had let up considerably and she wondered what her best course of action would be. It was still dark out, and she assumed by now that it was sometime during the night. She could try to make it back to the Hydra station and bring Jack back to them but what if James needed her while she was gone. It seemed like a totally impossible situation. If she didn't go for help, they likely wouldn't be found, the shelter was well hidden for a reason. If she did go for help, something could happen to him while she was gone.

She leans her head against the door jam, looking out at the rain, "What am I going to do?" she thinks to herself.

***

"Are the men ready to go Tom?" Ben asks approaching the man.

"I'm not sure this is a good idea Ben. There have been two storms back to back now. If we are out on the water when or if it starts again, well, I'm pretty sure I don't have to tell you what will happen"

"We're going Tom", Ben replies with a no argument tone. "What I asked was if they were ready"

Tom shakes his head, Ben was losing it. That was apparent to everyone but Ben. "They are ready. The outriggers are ready and packed for the trip over to Hydra. What makes you think they are still there and not gone already? If they had a boat, why would they stay?"

"I just know" Ben says and walks away from Tom. "I'll meet you at the beach in a half hour. Make sure you are all ready to go" he says without turning back to face Tom.

From a distance Richard had been watching Ben. The man was out of control and he was going to ruin everything. He'd almost ruined everything once before. Richard turns and heads back into the jungle towards the statue.

"How are things going?" the mystery man asks, stepping out of the shadow of the statue when he sees Richard approaching.

"Ben is losing his mind. He's so obsessed over Juliet he can't seem to remember that there is a war coming"

The mystery man smiles at Richard. "You worry too much Richard", he laughs. "Ben is going to be his own downfall, and then we won't have to worry about killing him when all this is over"

"But Jacob said Juliet wasn't to be brought back to the island. He's worried she could be the one that changes everything", Richard replies.

"Oh you have such little faith in the master plan Richard", the mystery man replies. "She's only one tiny variable in the game"

"It only takes one variable to change things, as we've seen before. How can you be so certain this time?" Richard asks him.

"Trust me", replies the mystery man. "This time it's going to end once and for all."

As the mystery man turns and walks back into the shadow of the statue, thunder rumbles in the distance and lightening lights up the night.

****

After contemplating her situation for quite some time, Juliet had shut the door to the shelter and secured it for the night. She had checked on James and was satisfied that his breathing was continuing to improve.

She settles on the floor beside him, laying her head against his. After a few bites from the can of beans, she had fallen asleep with her hand draped across him feeling the rise and fall of his chest.

It is like this that she woke a few hours later to his movement beneath her hand.

"Hey", she says seeing his eyes opened slightly. "How are you feeling?" she asks, brushing stray hairs from his forehead. She was happy to see that his colour seemed a little better.

"Better", he says, his voice a bit stronger than it had been hours earlier.

She stretches her arms, sleeping on the floor beside the cot hadn't been the most comfortable but she'd been so tired she hadn't cared.

"You look tired", he says reaching his hand out for hers.

"A little bit, but I'll live", she says with a reassuring smile. "Do you think you are up for a walk today?" she asks. "We should try to get back to they Hydra station. I'm sure the others are wondering what happened to us"

He sighs, "I don't know Blondie" he says honestly.

She knew that would be the answer, while it wasn't a walk that would take them all day it was still going to take them a couple of hours. Slower at the pace he'd move. "We can wait another day", she says. "We have food here. We are okay for now. . ", she trails off.

"You go" he says. "Go back and get help"

"I'm not leaving you" she says without having to even think about it. "I thought last night that I was going to have to go after Jack, but I'm not going, not without you"

He wasn't going to argue with her. He really wasn't in the mood to be alone.

"Let's try sitting first", she suggests.

He nods in agreement and she assists him to a sitting position. The colour drains from his face initially and it takes him a few moments to catch his breath, but overall it had gone better than the previous evenings attempt.

Once she was satisfied that he was alright she heads out of the shelter to get them some fruit for breakfast. Finding some mango's she returns to the shelter to find him still pale but definitely better than he'd been earlier.  
"I think we should try it", he says feeling stronger after having something to eat.

"You sure?" she asks.

He nods, "When Ben and the others get here we need to be all together. We have more strength together" he glances away from her. "And I'm no good to you like this. I can't protect you from him right now"

She puts her fingers under his chin and lifts his head so they are looking eye to eye. "We have each other's backs remember" she says seriously. "It's not just about you looking after me. It's my turn to look after you"

He leans in and kisses her. "Let's hit the road"

Juliet helps him get dressed and then dresses herself. She helps him to stand and she wraps her arm around him to support him as they walked. She knew he was in pain but he refused to admit it.

Sayid, Jack, Goodwin and Rachael had made camp for a few hours during the night. At first light they were up and moving again.

"Over here", Sayid calls to the others after having noticed a set of footprints in the mud. "Looks like there went through here recently"

Juliet had just helped James to sit on a fallen log when the rest of the group caught up with them.

Hearing someone approaching them, Juliet pulls out her gun aiming it in the direction from which she heard the footsteps.

"Juliet", Jack says entering the clearing, "it's just us"

She feels relief flood through her and lowers her gun. Rachael throws her arm around her, hugging her. "What happened to you guys?" she asks.

Jack had noticed the pale looking Sawyer slumped over on the log, and gone over to check on him.

"We got caught in the storm yesterday James got hit by a falling tree limb."

Letting go of Rachale, she turns to face Jack, "He has a concussion and I'm pretty sure he has a few broken ribs. He's in a lot more pain than he's letting on"

Jack pulls out his canteen of water and helps Sawyer to drink some of the water. "What's the verdict Doc? Will I live?" Sawyer asks.

"I'm sure it will take a lot more than a falling tree limb to take you out Sawyer" Jack jokes.

"Let's get back to the Hydra station. You both look like you could use some rest"

Jack and Sayid support Sawyer and the group makes their way back to the Hydra station.

******

Hours later, the outriggers are packed and Ben and his group of men hit the beach and prepare to set off to Hydra Island. Just as they are about to leave another storm starts to brew.

"Ben", says Tom approaching him. "We can't go out there if this is going to be like the other storms"

Ben looks up at the sky and shakes his head, cursing silently. "Fine" he says, "Lets pull the boats back in. We'll go in the morning"


	33. Chapter 33

**Okay, you are getting this chapter sooner than I anticipated. When I finally sat down to write, it came together better than I thought. There is a lot going on in certain parts of the chapter as I get closer to the 'big war'. . LOL whatever that may be ;))... I do have a plan for the rest of the story and have a rough outline of the remaining chapters. . now if I can make my notes into something that makes sense. Thanks to everyone for continuing to review, you are keeping me going with this story. I'm not sure how many chapters are to go. . and I know there are still a few loose ends. . let me know if there is still anything big that I haven't explained that you would like explained by the end:)**

**Chapter 33**

"They're back", Sun says to Jin when she notices Jack and Sayid helping Sawyer through the door.

"What happened?" Jin asks walking towards them.

"Tangled with a tree and lost", James says sarcastically, glancing up at Jin.

Jack and Sayid lead James off to the adjoining room and help him down onto the cot.

Juliet turns to Jin, "We got caught in the storm, James got hit by a falling tree branch."

Juliet realizes that the rest had joined them at the Hydra station. She gives Jin a confused look. "Who's with the boat?" she asks.

"The boat is gone Juliet", Jin replies.

Her heart sinks. Their way home was gone.

"It's okay", Jin says seeing the look on her face. He tries to sound encouraging. "We'll find some other way. Ben got to the mainland somehow. There is still a way on and off the island"

She nods. She assumed Ben had brought her in the sub, of course at the time she'd been unconscious. There was still hope that they'd get home again.

They are interrupted by Jack returning from the other room. "He's all settled into bed, I think you were right Juliet. He's got a few bruised or broken ribs. Another couple of days and he should be feeling better."

She sighs. "What if we don't have a few days Jack, what if Ben is already here?"

"I don't think Ben's here. If he was we'd know it, irregardless, we are armed and ready for him. I think for the time being, we are safe here. Plus, with the weather Ben would be crazy to make the trip from the main island over here."

She nods in resigned agreement hoping he was right.

"You look exhausted Jules", Rachael says approaching her. "Go lay down for awhile. I'm sure you didn't sleep much last night"

"Alright" she says with no argument. She leaves the group and heads into the other room with James. She sits down on the cot next to him watching the even rise and fall of her chest.

Back in the other room, Kate approaches Jack and Sayid. "I was talking with Alex while you were gone. She knows where there are some outriggers on this island. She says she can get us back to the main island and to the statue"

With their boat gone, he hadn't thought about how they'd get back to the main island. "That's good" he says. "I think we need to come up with a plan. We need to try to get to the statue before Ben makes it here"

"What makes you think he's really coming here Jack?" Kate asks.

"He'll come for Juliet. I'm certain of it", Jack replies. "He went all the way to LA, and kidnapped Julian. He's not going to let this go Kate. He wants her."

Kate knew he was right. "We just have to stay one step ahead of him then"

Jack steps away from Kate and moves to Goodwin. "How long will it take us to get from here to the statue?" Jack asks.

"The statue?" asks a confused Goodwin.

"The statue of the foot"

"Oh", replies Goodwin. "By outrigger, it will take us at least a day."

"I guess the better question", Jack starts, "Is there a way we can avoid Ben? Do your people always take the same path when you travel from the main island to this island?"

Goodwin smiles, he liked the way that Jack thought. "Absolutely there is a way we can avoid Ben. It will take us a little longer to get back to the main island, but when we travel back and forth from the main island to Hydra we always follow the same path"

Jack nods, "Excellent. If the weather works with us and not against us, we'll have time for Sawyer to get better and we can get off this island before Ben gets here. We'll play a little game of cat and mouse with him"

"Don't under-estimate him Jack" Goodwin cautions.

"Oh, we did that once" says Jack. "And that got Juliet and Julian kidnapped and the rest of us back on this island. We won't make that mistake again." Jack pauses a moment and then continues, "What do you know about the statue?" he asks.

"Nothing really" replies Goodwin. "It's been in its current state for as long as I've lived on the island. I haven't really given much thought to it"

*********************************************

She isn't sure how long she had watched him sleep before she'd finally given into sleep herself. She is roused suddenly hours later by the sound of his voice. She sits up with a start and it takes a moment for her to realize where she was. She jumps from the cot where she'd been sleeping and makes her way over to him. She notices baby Aaron asleep on a nearby cot.

"Hey", she says brushing the hair off his face, and leaning down to kiss his forehead. "I'm right here" she says soothingly. His eyes were still closed but he'd been calling out her name, and she assumes he was dreaming.

His eyes open with a start and he stares up at her.

"Hey", she says again. "It's okay, you were dreaming"

He glances around the room, taking a moment himself to remember that they were back at the Hydra station.

"You were calling out for me in your sleep" she tells him.

"Ben had you again" he trails off. "I couldn't find you"

She pushes aside his fears. "I'm right here"

He smiles. "Good"

He shifts himself over on the cot. "Lay down with me" he tells her.

She looks at him sceptically. "I don't want to hurt you"

"You could never hurt me Blondie, I just want to hold you for awhile"

She carefully sets herself down on the cot turning on her side she wraps her arm across his chest.

"That's better" he says yawning again.

She laughs. "You're tired James, go back to sleep"

"I'm okay", he tells her. "What were all the others up too?" he asks. "How come everyone is here and no one is with the boat?" he asks.

She sighs, "The boat's gone James. The storm was too much for it"

"Gone?" he says surprised.

She nods, "We are stuck here, again"

"Doesn't matter" he says turning his head to look at her. "As long as we are together, I don't care where we are. And this time around, your sister is with us. Everything we need is right here on this island"

"When did you become such an optimist?" she says surprised.

"I mean it Jules, all I need is you. We'll win whatever this war is and get rid Ben from our lives once and for all"

"I hope you are right", she slides her hand into his. "I hope that we can do that"

He squeezes her hand reassuringly.

The quiet moment is interrupted by the sound of baby Aaron's cries. Juliet glances over at the baby. She carefully gets up and goes over and picks up the infant,

"Shhh", she says softly bouncing the infant to sooth his cries. She carries him back over to the cot she was sharing with James and sits down.

"Where's Claire?" he asks.

"Don't know. The baby wasn't in here when I came in to lie down"

The baby quickly resettles in Juliet's arms. She glances down at the baby. "I'd be over half way through my pregnancy now, if. . " she trails off.

"Don't Juliet" he says touching her hand.

Before he can continue, they are interrupted by Claire entering the room. "Sorry" she says approaching Juliet. "He was sleeping so soundly I just left him in here asleep on the cot while I ran to get something to eat"

"It's alright Claire" she says handing her the baby. "He didn't wake us up"

"He's probably hungry now" she says taking the baby and heading back out of the room, leaving James and Juliet alone again.

James can see the tears in Juliet's eyes and wipes them away with his thumb.

"Oh Jules" he says pulling her into his arms, knowing there was nothing he could say or do to take away her pain. When her tears finally stop, he places a soft kiss on her forehead.

It is a few moments after that Jack enters' the room to check on James. He notices Juliet's tear stained red eyes.

"Everyone okay in here?" he asks. Before either of them can respond, Julian runs into the room.

"Auntie Juliet" he says running over to the cot.

She wipes her eyes one last time, pulling herself to a sitting position. "What is it honey?" she asks the little boy.

"Mommy said to come and see if you and Uncle James want something to eat" he says blissfully unaware of his aunts mood.

She turns and looks to James. "Sounds good to me" he says. "You go with Julian I'll catch up with you. I just want to talk to the doc for a minute"

She nods to James and then looks back at Julian as she gets up off the bed. "Let's go honey" she says taking the little boys hand. He excitedly starts telling her about his afternoon as he leads her from the room.

When they were alone, Jack looks back at James. "She alright?" he asks.

James nods, "Claire left the baby in here. She's having a hard time"

Jack nods in understanding. "How about you?" he asks. "Is the pain any better?"

"Yup" he says wrapping his arm across his chest as he hoists himself up from the cot. It was considerably easier than it had been earlier. "Another day or so and I'll be good as new. You guys come up with a plan yet?"

"Mm Hmm", Jack replies. "Alex knows where there are some outriggers. Soon as you are feeling up to it, we'll head for the statue. Goodwin says that his people always take the same path when coming from the main island. We are going to take the other way around to get to the statue. Hopefully we'll lead Ben on a wild goose chase"

**************************

Three days later the weather finally clears. Back on the mainland Ben orders his men to reload the outriggers. Ben was not willing to wait any longer, they are heading for the Hydra Island before another storm can roll in. Within two hours, Ben, Tom, Pickett and 6 other men leave for island.

*******************

With the weather near the island finally clear, out in the ocean the freighter was again on the move. Held off for days by storm after storm, the crew of the freighter grew restless while they awaited the mission that would greet them when they finally made it to the island.

Standing at the edge of the ships' rail Charles Widmore looked for any sign of the island. He'd waited so long for this to finally happen. Behind him he hears footsteps approaching. He turns and looks at the three people assembled in front of him. He'd chosen his team carefully they'd each play their part in the upcoming war.

It hadn't taken Miles long to realize that neither Dan, nor Charlotte remembered their previous island encounter. If they did have any memories, they hid it well. He'd watched all the news about Oceanic 815 with great curiosity. He'd tried to find La Fleur but wasn't successful. When he finally found out where he was, it was too late, Juliet, La Fleur and the others had all disappeared. It was just after that he'd been approached by Naomi about the mission to the island. This time, it hadn't taken much persuasion on Naomi's part to make him agree. He'd actually jumped at the opportunity.

He was a little confused when Widmore himself had chosen to come this time, but it didn't matter. Whatever had happened that day at the Swan site had reset everything. Certain things were happening again, but as far as he could tell he was the only one of the freighter crew, including Widmore, that had any sort of memories of the other past. He would use that knowledge to protect his friends.

Widmore's voice draws him back from his thoughts. "You all know your jobs" he says to the trio.

Miles notices Faraday and Charlotte both nod. He nods as well. No sense in Widmore realizing he had an alternative agenda.

"Excellent" Widmore replies. "We should be to the island by morning"

*************

Richard makes his way back to the statue. He sees the mystery man waiting for him. "You were right" he says to the man. "There's a freighter approaching the island. It's happening, just like you said it was going happen"

The man steps out from the shadows and smiles at Richard. "I know" he says. "It's all going according to plan"

Richard looks into the eyes of John Locke. "I hope you are right" he says, "because if you're wrong, your friend's will all die"

"I am well aware of the risks" John says turning away from Richard and heading back into the jungle.

*********************

Back on the Hydra Island, the three days that the storm had continued had given James a chance to recuperate from his injuries.

On their final night on the Hydra Island, James and Juliet slipped away from the rest of the group, preferring to spend some time alone.

She was surprised when after dinner he'd led her down the hall from their usual space to a room separate from the rest of the group. She smiles seeing the two little cots pushed together to create a double bed so they could spend the night together, he had candles burning on the desk.

He lights up when he see the sparkle in her eyes. "I thought you'd like this" he tells her.

She turns and wraps her arms around his neck and kisses him softly. "I love this", she tells him. "But don't you think the others will be suspicious?" she asks giving him a look.

He shrugs his shoulders. "Don't care" he tells her. "If this is our last night together before whatever is going to happen, we are spending it alone. . ." he trails off, and stops her from responding by placing his lips over hers.

"James" she mumbles against his lips in lame attempt at protest, but can feel herself melting into him. . .

He slides his hand down her back, resting them in the small of her back. "I love you Juliet" he says before leaning into her for another kiss and leading her to their makeshift bed.

***********************

The next morning everyone is up early. The sky was clear and for the time being anyways it looked like there might be a day without a storm. Unsure of what would greet them when they arrived at the statue they loaded the outriggers and reluctantly set off towards the main island.


	34. Chapter 34

**I have been on a roll with the writing during the past few days, which means you get another chapter quickly! I seem to have so many little sub plots going, hopefully they are easy to keep straight. Again no promises on when the next chapter will arrive, could be days, could be weeks. Enjoy!**

**Chapter 34**

"Are we there yet mommy?" Julian asks for about the tenth time since they left the Hydra for the main island.

Rachael turns and looks at the little boy. "You'll have to ask Auntie Juliet honey", she says, shifting her glaze to her sister.

The little boy turns and looks at Juliet, "are we almost there?" he asks exasperated.

"Yeah, are we there yet?" she hears another whiny voice behind her.

Juliet turns and looks into the dimpled grinning face of James, and shoots him a 'don't egg him on glare'.

She turns her attention back to Julian. "Yes honey", she says. "We are almost there"

She stops paddling for a moment and points to the island. "See that big statue over there, that's where we are headed boys", she turns back towards James and gives him another look.

The little boy looks to where his aunt was pointing.

"That is going to take forever" he whines seeing the statue far in the distance.

Rachael chuckle's at her son and continues to paddle the outrigger.

At the front their outrigger was Sayid.

"It won't be much longer Julian", he says adding in his opinion.

They had been paddling for hours and were all getting irritable and tired. From the boat behind them they could hear Claire trying to sooth a crying Aaron. From the sounds of it, the mood was similar in that boat.

The ache in James chest was starting to become unbearable from the continuous motion of paddling the boat, but he persisted stubbornly knowing they needed to keep moving.

An hour later, the boats finally hit shallow waters and a short time after that they are unloading onto the beach.

They had chosen to go ashore a ways down the beach from the statue. If there was going to be a war they didn't want to land in the middle of it.

***

Meanwhile....

On Hydra Island, Ben and his group pulled their outriggers up onto the beach.

"Alright", Ben says attempting to get everyone's attention. "They are likely at the Hydra station. I want Juliet", he says. "I don't care about the rest"

Tom steps in beside Ben, "What if Alex is in there Ben, don't you want her protected?" he asks.

"She betrayed me" he says simply, and steps in front of Tom, effectively ending any further conversation.

Tom quickens his pace so he is beside Ben again. "Ben, are you even listening to yourself anymore?" he'd had it with Ben's obsession. "You could be walking us all into an ambush for all you know. "

Ben stops suddenly and turns to look at Tom. "Am I listening to myself? Are you listening to yourself? You've never questioned my motives before Tom? Why now?"

"Because you got us all killed before", Tom blurts out without realizing what he was saying.

Ben looks at him questioningly. "What did you just say?" he throws back at him.

"I said you got us all killed the last time", Tom says again, still unsure where this new found knowledge has come from.

The other men by now had all stopped and turned and were watching the interaction between Tom and Ben.

"How do you know that? You weren't suppose to remember"

Just as suddenly as Tom's memory had resurfaced it had disappeared again.

He shakes his head in confusion. "What wasn't I suppose to remember Ben?"

Ben glances around at the other men who were all watching them in confusion. "What are you all looking at" he snaps. "Let's get going"

He turns back to face Tom. "Are we finished? Or do you have more accusations against me?" he snips.

Tom puts his hand to his forehead. He'd suddenly developed a throbbing headache. "We're finished" he says when he finally looks Ben back in the eyes.

"Good" Ben says, turning away from him and starting to walk again.

Tom lingers back behind the group. He tries to fight through the pain of the headache to remember. Why would he have said that Ben got them all killed the first time. What did it mean?

***

As they had unloaded the outriggers, she'd noticed he was doing very little of the lifting and carrying. She didn't miss when he'd finally given up and sat down in the sand. She wanders away from the others and sinks down beside him placing a hand on his knee.

"Break time?" she asks.

He places a hand over hers. "Yup" he replies.

She looks him in the eyes. "How is the chest?" she asks. "I know that all that paddling couldn't have been easy, especially after I kept you up all night last night" she says giving him a smirk.

He smiles back at her, flashing his dimples and shaking his head at her at the mention of the previous evening. "Let's just say I'm glad we are out of the damn boat and I hate feeling so damn useless"

"Gotcha, but you most definitely are not useless" she says shifting positions so she is more behind him. "I know this from first hand experience", she leans forward and whispers in his ear. She moves her hands to his shoulders and starts to massage his aching muscles.

He leans into her hands, soaking in the feeling of her fingers working his aching muscles. "Damn Jules", he says, both hating and loving the fact that she could so easily get him going.

She continues to work away at his tense muscles, finally starting to feel the tension in him start to release beneath her fingers and while it may not have taken away the pain he was feeling it did help him to relax.

***

Jack pulls the last of the knapsacks out of the outrigger. He notices James and Juliet sitting a short ways up the beach. Some of the others had started to drift down into the sand for a rest too. It had been a long day. Out of the corner of his eye he notices Kate sitting in the sand cuddling with Aaron. He walks over to them and sits down beside her.

"What is the plan now?" Kate asks glancing over at him with a smile.

"Sayid, Jin and Goodwin have gone for a walk to see if they can figure out exactly where we are. We need to find shelter, it'll be dark soon. It's not safe out here"

"We've survived on the beach before Jack"

"Yes, we have" he replies. "But we didn't have these crazy storms before either"

"Do you think there really is a war?" Kate finally says when she speaks again. "Couldn't all this just be Ben's sick way of trying to control us again?"

He shrugs his shoulders. "Honestly Kate I don't know" he replies. "But we need to be prepared for anything. If we have learned anything on this island it is that anything can happen."

She is silent for a moment and looks down at the baby in her arms. She finally looks back up at Jack. "I'm scared Jack" she finally admits.

He wraps an arm around her shoulder and she leans her head against him. "So am I Kate" he admits back. "But I honestly believe we are going to be okay"

"I hope you are right" she says returning her eyes to the sleeping baby in her arms.

***

Ben and company finally arrived at the Hydra station. From the tree line they look towards the buildings. Everything looked quiet and deserted. Leaving the safety of the tree line Ben heads towards the building with his gun drawn.

He throws open the door and steps into the empty station. Walking through the empty building he throws open doors. Any signs that Juliet and the others had been here had been cleaned up. Ben curses loudly. The others follow him into the building. Guns all drawn as they search various areas of the main Dharma building.

"How the hell did they get away?" Ben says barely controlling his temper.

"Maybe they were never here", Danny snips back. "Maybe they've already left. It's been days Ben. They had a boat"

"They haven't left" Ben says spinning on his heals to face Danny. "She's still on this island. I know it"

Danny steps closer to Ben, quickly losing his own temper. "She's gone Ben, give it up" he yells at him.

"Don't ever tell me to give it up Danny", Ben says shifting the gun in his hands, making it look like he'd really shoot Danny.

Danny takes a step closer to Ben, his own hot headed temper building by the moment.

Before he can reply, Tom and another of the men work their way between the two men.

"Enough", Tom says. "We have enough to worry about without the two of you killing each other"

Ben spins on his heels and heads for the door. "I want this whole island searched, I'm going to the control room to look at the monitors", he says when he exits through the door.

When Ben had disappeared Tom had turned to Danny, "Don't mess with him Danny, he's losing it. He'd shoot you without thinking twice about it"

Still angry, Danny shoots a look at Tom. "He'll have to be faster on the trigger than me Tom, and we both know that ain't ever gonna happen."

***

The freighter approaches the opposite side of the island, anchoring a few miles off shore.

"Keamy", Widmore says approaching the man. "When will you and your men be ready to go?"

"We are ready whenever" the man replies.

Widmore pulls out a picture of Ben and hands it to Keamy. "This is your target. I want him in one piece. Once you've got him in your custody, I will come to the island"

Keamy smiles and nods, he was going to enjoy this mission.

From the side lines, Miles watches the interaction. He was well aware of the destruction that Keamy and his men had brought to the island previously. He wasn't going to let the man away with killing any more innocent people.

He heads back inside the boat to find Charlotte and Daniel. It doesn't take him long to track them.

"Dan, Charlotte" he says approaching them. "I need your help. We need to get to the island before Keamy and the other men leave"

They each give him a confused look.

"I can't explain it" he says truthfully because he really wasn't sure how he'd explain it. "But, there are people on that island that we need to protect. We'll leave tonight"

Dan starts to argue with him and stops for reasons he can't figure out. "Fine Miles, we'll meet you on the deck tonight after dark"

***

In the control room Ben slams his hand against the monitor. He'd been staring at them for hours with no sign of Juliet or any of the others.

Richard walks into the control room, witnessing Ben's meltdown. He stands in the doorway waiting for Ben to notice his presence.

Finally Ben turns, "how long have you been standing there?" he asks.

"Long enough Ben" Richard replies.

"What are you doing here? Are you checking up on me Richard?"

Richard shakes his head. "Actually I came to give you warning"

"A warning?" Ben asks, giving Richard his full attention.

Richard nods, "They're coming Ben"

"Who is coming?" he says with annoyance evident in his voice. He was not in the mood for this little game.

"You've been so preoccupied with finding Juliet, you haven't paid attention to what has been happening on the island" Richard replies cryptically.

Ben tosses his hands in the air. "Just spit it our Richard. Who's coming?"

"The freighter", Richard says turning and walking out of the control room leaving Ben standing in the middle of the control room.

Once Richard has disappeared Ben turns back to the computer screens, the implications of what Richard had just said were jumping wildly through his mind. "Widmore," he says slamming his fists down on the monitor for a second time. "Damn him"


	35. Chapter 35

I've been on a writing roll the past few days. . Hope you enjoy. Remember to review ;). Let's see if I can get to 200 with this chapter! We are making small leaps towards the finish line. What will Ben do??? What's happening to Juliet???? Is John good or bad???? ;)... So geographically things may be a little 'off' on the island. . I created my own geography to make this chapter work ;)...

Chapter 35

"_If I had to choose between loving you, and breathing,_

_I would use my last breath to say I love you" _

_Unknown_

Ben follows Richard out of the control room.

"Widmore is sending the freighter just like before? How can that be" he asks "things are different now?"

Richard shrugs his shoulders. "It's happening again Ben, just like it did before. Not everything is different"

"How? Why?" he starts and then stops. Alex's pleading face flashes through his memories, the gun to his daughters' head, her dead body lying on the ground.

"This is the war? This isn't the way it was supposed to be" he asks the question but didn't really care about the answer.

Richard watches as Ben finally seems to realize the implications of the current situation.

"Jacob wanted you warned. He says you'd know what to do"

Ben eyes Richard suspiciously.

"How do I know you aren't lying to me?" he asks. "Just to get me to stop looking for Juliet"

Richard shakes his head. "Ben, you are so focused on finding Juliet that you are missing the big picture. There is a war coming, if you haven't forgotten, it is a war which could ultimately destroy the island. It's all going to happen again if you don't start focusing on the bigger picture. You've already lost her Ben."

Ben glares at Richard.

"You know what you need to do Ben", Richard says turning and walking away from him.

As Ben watches Richard walk away he thinks to himself, "If I move the island, I lose Juliet and the island, except I might get another chance if I can get back again. If I don't move the island I could have Juliet. . ", his thoughts trail off.

"Danny, Tom" he yells to his men.

The two men approach him. "We've got new issues", Ben says to the men. "For now the hunt for Juliet is over"

The two men eye him suspiciously.

"We need to get back to the barracks. There are other's approaching the island. We need to secure the barracks. . For now he had come up with an alternative plan to see if he could avoid reliving the past again.

***

**Three weeks later**.....

The group had made camp on the beach and fallen into a daily routine of island life. Each night in small groups they would take turns staying awake to protect their camp.

During the days they explored the areas around their new camp.

They'd visited the base of the statue, finding it for the time being, quiet and deserted. Despite Sun's knowledge of the entrance to the base of the statue, they'd been unable as of yet to get inside.

Sayid and Goodwin had approached the outer edges of the barracks everything seemed strangely calm there as well.

They continued to remain ready for anything to happen, they were all aware that at any time things could change. . .

Just after dawn James rolls over, expecting to find Juliet lying beside him as he had become accustomed too. When he's met with just sand, he opens his eyes and glances around for her.

He doesn't see her, but he does see Rachael off in the distance. He gets up, heads out of their shelter and heads over to Rachael.

"Rach, have you seen Jules this morning?" he asks.

Rachael glances around the beach, "She was here a few minutes ago. Maybe she went to get more wood for the fire?" she says shrugging her shoulders.

James glances sceptically to the edge of the jungle. Surely she wouldn't have wandered off on her own. He shakes his head, this was Juliet he was talking about. . of course she might have wandered into the jungle alone.

"Freckles" he calls out to Kate, "Did you see where Juliet went?" he asks.

He sees both Kate and Jack shake her heads. Hugo, Claire, Jin and Sun all each shake their heads too.

"Damn Jules" he thinks to himself. "Where did you go?"

He wanders over to the edge of the tree line "Juliet" he calls out her name.

***

Miles, Charlotte and Daniel's escape to the island had been prevented by the weather.

This time, while the storms were not impacting the island directly, they were impacting the water's surrounding the island.

Widmore and the rest of the crew grew more and more frustrated by each passing day. The freighter had been forced a few miles further out from the island in order to avoid being destroyed. He had started to wonder whether there was a larger force at work preventing his return to the island.

Glaring out the small window in his room Widmore curses the wind and rain. Soon the freighter would run out of supplies, they have to make a decision to risk moving closer to the island or turn away and go back to Tahiti to reload with supplies. He begins to wonder if all of this crazy weather was the island's way of preventing his return.

***

Juliet had gotten up early. She wasn't feeling like herself this morning. James looked like he was sleeping peacefully beside her and she didn't want to disturb him. She had gotten up and headed out of their tent, after a short conversation with her sister she had headed off into the jungle on her own.

Feeling restless, she had headed away from the camp for a short walk. Waiting wasn't one of her strong qualities, and waiting for whatever was going to happen was driving her crazy. She knew she should have told someone where she was headed but figured she'd only be gone for a short time and would be back before James woke up.

She was just about to turn around and head back towards camp when she had stumbled upon a large crater in the ground. It didn't take her long to realize just what the hole was. Vivid memories of those last moments flashed thorough her mind. The memory was so strong that she places her hands on her waist, almost expecting to feel the chains around her again.

"_Where do you think your going Blondie? Hold on, hold on"_

"_I love you"_

"_No, don't you let go", the look of desperation in his eyes._

"_I can't, I can't get it off."_

"_I've got you, hold on I've got you"_

"_I love you James, I love you so much"_

"_No"_

"_It's okay"_

_"Don't you leave me"_

She hears someone approaching from behind her and quickly wipes away the tears from the corner of her eyes. She pulls out the gun she'd brought with her and turns toward the noise.

"Who's there?" she asks, steadying herself after a wave of dizziness hits her when she'd turned.

From behind a tree steps John Locke.

Juliet steadies herself and watches him with confusion.

He notes the confused look on her face. "Hello Juliet" he says smiling at the woman standing across from him.

"John?"

He nods his head and then gestures to the gun which was pointed at him. "It's okay Juliet", he says. "I'm not here to hurt you, you can put that away"

She doesn't move the gun, and keeps it pointed at him. "How is this possible?" she asks him. "The papers said you died"

"Ah", he says with a nod. "Yes, you are absolutely right, the papers did say that. I had to make it appear that I'd died, so that I could come back"

"I'm afraid that I don't understand John"

"It has taken me some time to figure it all out too, Juliet. You can imagine my surprise when I woke up on Flight 815, paralyzed again and finding out it was 2004. Prior to waking up on Flight 815, the last thing I remembered was being in a hotel room with Ben. I was trying to kill myself. Instead Ben killed me"

"But that still doesn't explain why you are here John, or how"

"I came back because the island is my destiny Juliet, just as it is yours and James, and the rest of your friends. I came back because when I left here the last time I promised I would save you all"

"You did save us John", she trails off. "You stopped the island from moving through time, we were stuck in the Dharma initiative but we had a good life there"

He notices that she had lowered the gun, while it was still in her hands it was no longer pointed at him. He gestures to the hole behind her.

"The Swan station?" he asks.

She nods. . "It would have been"

From a distance she can hear James calling her name.

"I have to go Juliet, I'm not ready for the others to see me yet", he tells her.

"But John" she starts.

"Juliet" he says. "You have to listen to me. There are others coming to the island. The freighter is a few miles off shore. Storms have been hindering Keamy and his men from getting to the island, just as they have allowed you to stay away from Ben. It won't last forever. Before long the war will start. But you have to know that Ben knows that the freighter is coming. He'll do anything to stop it from getting here, including moving the island again. If he is allowed to move the island again everything will happen as it did before... "

"What do we have to do John?" she asks, hearing James voice getting closer them.

"You have to stop Ben. You have to allow Keamy and the rest of them to come to the island. I made the mistake of following Ben before. We have to allow the war to happen this time. You have to win the war"

"But how" she starts to ask him, James voice coming sounding closer by the moment. She turns quickly to yell to James, and is hit again by another wave of dizziness which prevents her from yelling out to him. She turns back in time to see John disappear into the trees. She closes her eyes, willing the dizziness she was feeling to disappear instead she is met by darkness as she sinks to the ground.

James enters into a clearing and notices Juliet lying on the ground next to a large hole, her eyes were closed, and the gun she'd been holding lay next to her hand. He quickly moves to her side, kneeling down next to her, turning her over.

"Juliet", she hears James voice next to her, and feels his hand on her arm and then turning her over.

"Juliet" he says her name again, concern evident in his voice.

She finally fights through the darkness and opens her eyes, the dizziness now thankfully subsided.

"Juliet, what's wrong?" he asks again when her eyes open.

"Nothing James, I'm fine" she lies, avoiding his eyes.

"Hey" he says lifting her chin to look in her eyes. "You aren't fine Blondie. You wandered off from the camp, I find you alone out here, unconscious on the ground. What happened?" he asks.

"Do you know what this place is?" she asks as he helps her to sit up, her eyes shifting to the hole.

He wasn't expecting that question but then it dawns on him, just where they were.

"Ah", he says, "the swan site". This still didn't answer the question of how she'd become unconscious on the ground. He'd avoid that question for a moment.

She nods and he pulls his arms tighter around her. They both fully realized what this site meant to them, and what they could have lost here.

"But why the gun Jules?" he asks. "Why did you have your gun out?"

She glances out into the jungle. "I was standing, looking in the hole and remembering what had happened. I heard a noise coming from the jungle. . "

He nods, wanting her to continue.

"When I turned around, John Locke walked out of the trees"

It was his turn to be confused. "But John Locke is dead", he says.

She shakes her head. "Not only is he alive James, but he came to give us a warning"

"What kind of warning?"

"The freighter is approaching the island, just like before. He said that we need to stop Ben from moving the island. He was wrong the last time, he never should have helped Ben. If we don't, everything will start over again. He said this time we need to let the war happen and this time we need to win"

James again looks at her confused. "Jules" he asks, running his fingers through her hair, surely she must have just fallen and hit her head and dreamed all this while she was unconscious. "None of this explains why I found you unconscious. Are you really sure that John was really here"

She puts her head into her hands, frustrated she continues, "he was here James, I didn't make it up" she says getting annoyed with him. "When we heard your voice calling for me John said it wasn't time for the rest of you to see him yet. I turned to call out to you, I got light headed and dizzy, I must have fainted", she explains.

He stands and offers her a hand, helping her to her feet. "We are going back to see Jack" he says to her.

"James I'm fine, really."

"Juliet, you passed out. Humour me. We are going back to see Jack"

"But what about John? We need to find him, I don't think he told me everything he knows"

"We'll find John" he says. "After Jack assures me that you are fine"

"James" she starts...

"Juliet" he says stopping her. He glances down into the hole. "I almost lost you once, right here at this very location. So please Blondie, just do this for me, and let Jack look at you."

He wraps an arm around her waist as he leads her from the hole, back into the jungle towards their camp.


	36. Chapter 36

**Let the games begin... Enjoy!**

**Chapter 36**

They made their way back to camp and he'd taken her to their shelter, settled her and gone off to find Jack. He wasn't budging on his insistence that Jack take a look at her.

During the walk back to camp she'd gone over and over her encounter with John Locke. She had begun to wonder if maybe she really had hit her head and made the whole thing up.

James was only gone a short time before returning to the tent with Jack.

James sits down next to her and Jack settles in front of her.

"What happened Juliet?" he asks. "Sawyer tells me he found you passed out at the Swan site", Jack says while sliding his fingers around her wrist.

"I'm fine Jack", she says pulling her hand stubbornly from his.

"Maybe" he starts in his doctor tone. "But I'm with Sawyer on this, and you know as well as I do that it's not exactly normal to faint for no reason"

James had given Jack a run down on what had happened since he'd found Juliet, while they had walked to the shelter.

"Do you remember what happened before you fainted?" Jack asks.

She relays everything that she thinks happened with John.

"So you turned to call out to Sawyer, got dizzy and fainted?" Jack asks, seeing if he had it all straight.

Juliet nods her head.

"Is this the first time this has happened?" he asks.

"If you mean has it happened before today, then the answer would be no. But it happened twice while I was at the Swan site. The first time was just after I got to the Swan site this morning, before John came out of the jungle... I think", she replies pausing a moment. She puts her hand to her forehead, "Maybe none of it happened, maybe John was never there"

He can see her frustration as she tries to makes sense of what happened. "Juliet, I'm sure there is a reasonable explanation for what happened. Have you eaten anything today?"

She shakes her head again. "I wasn't expecting to be gone very long."

"Well I'm sure that's all it was" Jack says eyeing her suspiciously. He wasn't convinced, but she seemed okay now from what he could tell. "Maybe just the lack of eating and being at the Swan site?" he says. "I'm sure stumbling on that site brought back some memories for you"

Again she nods, and puts her hand to her waist. "Everything that happened that day came tumbling back again. I could feel the chains hit me, being dragged into that pit. . ", she shutters at the memory.

James pulls her into his arms. "Hey, you're safe now" he tells her.

"I know" she says leaning back against him, and turning her head to look at him.

Rachael pops her head into their tent. "Kate just told me that you passed out Jules, you okay?" she asks concerned for her sister.

"Not you too", she says rolling her eyes at her sister. "I'm fine Rach" she says trying to reassure her, as well as the two men who were looking at her like she might fall over at any time.

"What are we going to do about John? Assuming I'm not going crazy and he really was there." Juliet asks in an attempt to change the topic. "Are we just going to wait and see what happens? Or do we go looking to see if he really is here?"

Jack looks at James and shrugs his shoulders.

"I guess we wait for him to come to us, if he's really here on the island", James puts forth his opinion.

"So then what do we do in the meantime?" Juliet asks.

"We make sure we are ready for anything, and for now we continue doing what we've been doing, we wait", Jack replies.

****

"What's the news from the Looking Glass Tom?" Ben asks approaching the man.

"The storms out beyond the point are clearing. It looks like the freighter is on the move again."

"Damn it" Ben curses.

"What are you going to do Ben?" Tom asks.

"I don't know" Ben snaps, turning away from Tom.

"We have found their camp", Tom says, throwing in the other new piece of information.

Ben whips around, and glares at Tom. "What do you mean you found their camp?"

"Juliet", he says. "We've found where they are."

"Why is it that this is the first I'm hearing of this?" Ben asks angrily.

Tom shakes his head, "Jerry and Mark only came back from looking this morning Ben. I only heard about it right before I came to talk to you"

"Well", says Ben looking expectantly at Tom.

"Well what?" asks Tom.

Ben's agitation increases. "Where in the hell are they? What did you think I'd want to know?"

"They are a few miles down the beach from the statue. It seems that on a daily basis a couple of them have been keeping an eye on the statue"

"The statue", Ben says aloud. . His mind flashes back to those last moments inside the statue. He can almost feel the knife in his hand, piercing Jacob's chest. He can see John pushing Jacob into the fire. "Jacob", he also says aloud.

Tom again gives him a confused look. "Why do I always feel like I'm missing half the story Ben?"

Ben looks up at Tom, grinning at him. "Because you are Tom" he says without elaborating.

Before Tom can respond, Ben continues. "Go and get Picket and Ethan, and get yourselves ready. We'll leave for the statue in four hours"

"What about the freighter Ben?"

"What about the freighter Tom?" Ben replies. "It's all making sense now we are going to the statue"

Tom turns and shakes his head, "glad it makes sense to someone" he mutters under his breath as he heads off to find Danny and Ethan.

***

Alone again in their tent, James turns to Juliet. "You want to go get some lunch?" he asks.

Her stomach had been doing flip flops since they'd walked back from the Swan site and the last thing she felt like doing was eating. "Sure" she replies, knowing that if she'd said no, James would have been hauling Jack back to their tent.

He stands and holds his hand out to her, helping her to her feet. "What are you in the mood for?" he asks.

"Hmmm" she says faking a smile. "Fish again or fruit again, tough choice. I think I'll go with fruit"

They make their way over to the fire, settling down in the sand. Jin approaches Juliet with a plate of cooked fish. "Here have some of this Juliet. I just caught it this morning" he says holding the plate in front of her.

Her stomach flips, "Umm, no thanks Jin" she says pushing the plate away.

"Here Juliet", Hurley says passing her a bowl of fruit.

"Thanks Hurley", she says accepting the bowl, and setting it down on the sand in front of her.

James left Juliet by the fire, and went to talk with Sayid and Goodwin. From the corner of his eye he could still see Juliet. She had tried to deny it, but there was something that was off with her. He just wasn't able to put his finger on it.

"Auntie Juliet", Julian says running up to her, and flopping down in her lap.

"Hi honey" she says wrapping her arms around the little boy hugging him. "Alex is trying to catch me" he giggles. Just as quickly as the little boy had flopped down in her lap, he'd jumped up and was off and running again. She watches as he runs around and Alex pretends to try to catch him. Today she'd give anything for even a little bit of his energy.

She glances down at the bowl of fruit sitting in front of her and her stomach flip flops again. She stands, picks up the bowl and returns it to the rest of the food. There was no way she was even going to attempt to eat. Rachael and Claire were both hanging around preparing dinner. "If James is looking for me, I'm in the tent" she tells them.

"You okay?" Rachael asks, noting her sisters pale complexion.

"Yup, just tired" she replies. "I didn't sleep very well last night" she says heading back off to her tent.

Sayid, Goodwin and James were joined by Jack and Jin. The men were discussing the implications of what Juliet had revealed about her encounter at the Swan site. Part of what Juliet revealed had made a lot of sense. Had John actually remembered the island, he'd find a way to come back. He had made no secret of the fact he believed the island was his destiny. But at the same time, John had "killed himself" in their previous reality, and like the others that had died, news reports had revealed that John had died on a brain aneurysm in their new reality. Had he really 'faked' his death this time and if so how had he gotten back to the island?

"We need to be ready for anything", Sayid says cryptically. "From here on out anything could happen"

***

Later that night after dark...

The camp had settled down for the night. Jin and Hurley were sitting by the fire keeping watch.

Hearing a noise behind them they both turn to see Juliet coming out of her tent.

Jin gets up and walks towards Juliet. "Feeling better?" he asks.

"A little bit", she replies. "I shouldn't have slept so long though" she says with a half smile. "Now I'm probably going be up for the night. Why doesn't one of you go to bed", she says looking from Jin to Hurley. "I can help keep watch"

The two men look at each other and back at Juliet. Hurley shakes his head. "Nope we're good" he replies. "Sawyer gave us strict instruction not to put you on guard tonight"

She glances back at their tent and shakes her head. She should have known he'd do something like that.

"Fine" she says with no argument, "but I'm up if you get tired"

She leaves the two and heads towards the makeshift kitchen. Her stomach still wasn't back to normal but she finally felt a little bit hungry. She prepares a small plate of fruit and heads towards the edge of the water. She sits down looking out at the dark water.

***

"Are you sure we are going to get away with this Miles?" Daniel asks as him, Charlotte and Miles leave the freighter in the small raft.

Miles nods, "No one saw us leave. As long as we stick to the right co-ordinates we'll get to the island"

"But this isn't what Widmore wanted", Charlotte starts..

"Doesn't matter what Widmore wants and for that matter I haven't even seen him in the past twelve hours anyways", Miles says cryptically. "There are people on the island we need to protect and I mean to make sure they are protected.

Both Charlotte and Daniel look at him confused. He'd been rambling on for days about the people on the island they needed to protect only he wouldn't elaborate beyond that.

When they were a safe distance from the freighter, Miles glances at the freighter. He had some regrets about what was going to happen. He'd made sure that Frank hadn't come this time, same with Naomi. The fate of the rest of the freighter had been sealed by their previous past, or so he believed. It was the belief that their fate was already sealed that made easier what was to come next. He needed to prevent Keamy and his men from getting to the island hurting his friends.

The night sky lights up as the freighter explodes....


	37. Chapter 37

**Lot's of ups and downs in this chapter. I'm procrastinating school work, so you are getting another one rather quickly. Don't hate me for the ending and the fact you might have to wait awhile for more :)...**

**Chapter 36**

**Back on the beach**

"Son of a bitch", Juliet says, seeing the fireball erupt into the sky.

At the sound of Juliet's voice, Sayid and Hurley turn their attention to her. In the distance they can see the flames in the sky.

They both get up and go over to her.

"What the hell dude", Hurley says sinking down in the sand beside Juliet.

At this particular moment James had rolled over and realized he was alone in the tent. Exiting the tent he doesn't miss the flames shooting up into the sky. He notices Juliet and the others at the edge of the water. Walking up behind Juliet he places his hands on her shoulders. She looks up at him.

"Nothing like a little deja vu, eh Blondie", he says.

Hurley and Sayid give the pair questioning looks.

"The freighter", says Juliet. "Or it was the freighter would be my guess"

"But how?" asks Hurley.

It was James turn to shrug his shoulders. "Your guess is as good as mine Hugo"

***

Ben and his men made it to the beach camp just before dark. Annoyed that he hadn't seen Juliet yet, Ben wondered whether or not she was actually in the camp. Finally, having seen Sawyer, he knew Juliet wouldn't be far away.

From the tree line Ben had been watching over the camp. He finally sees Juliet coming out of a tent. He starts forward towards her and is stopped by Ethan and Danny.

"Ben, what are you doing?" Ethan asks.

"Going in to get her", Ben replies. "Everyone is asleep, now is the perfect opportunity"

"It's suicide Ben. You can't just waltz in there and demand she come with you"

When the fireball erupts over the ocean their argument is forgotten.

"What the..?" Tom had said approaching the men as they'd held back Ben.

"What was that?" Ethan asked.

"The freighter I would imagine", says Ben. His mind flashed back to the moment that he'd killed Keamy in the Orchid station. He hadn't cared about the loss of the lives on the freighter then and he didn't care now.

The three men give him questioning looks.

Ben pulls himself from Ethan and Danny's grip and walks away from them. "I wonder what this means" he thinks aloud. He wonders what could have possibly caused the freighter to explode already.

He turns back to the other men. "Tom, there was no word from the Looking Glass of anyone from the freighter approaching the island, only that the freighter was on the move again, right?"

"Right", Tom replies.

"Okay then", Ben says looking out at the water. The flames had started to die down and now only a small amount of smoke was now visible by the moonlight. "We stick to our plan"

The three men all nod their heads. "Tomorrow then"

***

Later, back in their tent James lays with his arms around Juliet, they'd been discussing the freighter and the implications of it having blown up.

"At first light I think we need to go ahead with our plan to move Rachael, Claire and the kids to the caves. I don't think its safe here anymore."

She nods in agreement. She, as much as anyone wanted her sister and her nephew kept safe.

"And I want you to stay with them", he continues, tucking a lock of her hair behind her ear.

She looks at him surprised, "No" she says pulling away from him. "I'm coming with you like we'd originally planned", she says sitting up.

"Hey", he says pulling himself to a sitting position and taking her into his arms again. "I want you safe too Juliet" he says seriously. "Don't pull away from me, please", he says turning her face so they are looking eye to eye. "You aren't feeling well Blondie. You may think you have been hiding it, but I know you better than you might think" he places a hand on her cheek. "I just want to know you are safe when all this goes down"

"We don't even know what is going to happen James, or when for that matter."

"I think we can take the freighter blowing up as a sign that whatever it is, it's gonna happen soon."

He can see the stubborn look in her eyes. "I'm not going to win this argument am I?" he asks.

She shakes her head and smiles. "Afraid not", she leans in and kisses him. "But you should be use to that by now" she mumbles against him.

"Okay now you are cheating", he says pulling away from the kiss slightly and laying her down, kissing her on the forehead and then tickling her. "You know what cheating gets you", he can't help but laugh at her giggles and attempts to wiggle out from his grip.

"Stop", she laughs, trying to wiggle herself away from him.

He continues to tickle her, laughing.

"Seriously James, stop", she says finally getting away from him, as she is hit with a sudden nauseous feeling. She rushes from the tent, makes her way behind it, emptying the contents of her stomach.

He is on his feet in a moment and follows her from the tent. He holds back her hair as she's sick and pulls her into his arms when she's finished. "What's wrong Jules?" he asks worried again.

She doesn't respond as she is unsure how.

"I'm gonna go get Jack", he says pulling away from her, and looking her in the eyes.

"James, don't", she says grabbing his arm as he goes to walk away. "I feel better now. Let's just go back to bed"

He stands and watches her for a moment and takes her hand leading her back into the tent. "Okay, you win again, for now"

***

Late the next day they arrive at the caves. Claire, Rachael and the kids were going to stay at the caves with Goodwin, Alex and Hurley until they could ensure whatever it was that was going to happen was over.

Sayid, Sun and Jin had stayed back to watch the beach camp, while Jack, James, Kate and Juliet walked the rest to the caves.

James hadn't let Juliet out of his sight. He couldn't shake the feelings he had about her, but she continued to maintain that she was fine.

"I'd rather we stay with you Juliet", Rachael says when they were getting ready to leave.

"I know Rach, but it will be safer here. I couldn't handle anything happening to you or Julian. It's my fault that both of you were dragged into this mess. Julian needs his mom."

"He needs his aunt too, promise me you'll be careful Jules" Rachael says, tears forming in her eyes.

"I promise", Juliet says pulling her sister into her arms, feeling her own tears form. "A few days from now this will all be over and god willing, we can go home"

"Home", Rachael says wistfully, "it has only been a few months and already it seems like a lifetime. I almost forget what home is"

Juliet nods her head in understanding. She'd lived that feeling before.

"You ready to go Juliet?" Kate says approaching the women. "Jack says we should head out so we get back to the beach before dark"

She pulls her sister into another hug, "I love you Rachael. We'll be back before you know it"

"I love you too Jules, be careful", Rachael replies before letting go of Juliet.

Tears blur her eyes as she lets go of her sister and pulls Julian into a hug. "Protect your mommy like you looked after Auntie Juliet when we were here all by ourselves, okay buddy?" she says to the little boy.

He wraps his little arms around her, and whispers into her ear. "It's okay Auntie Juliet, I will keep mommy safe you till and Mr. Sayid come back".

Juliet puts a smile on her face as she puts the little boy down. "We'll be back before you know it honey", she says stopping at the caves entrance, looking back one last time at her sister and nephew.

Tears blur her eyes again as James takes her hand and leads her back into the jungle. As they head further away from the caves she can help but wonder if she'd ever see them again.

***

Miles, Charlotte and Daniel hit the sand of the beach as the sun was coming up. The trio had come ashore just down the beach from the statue.

"Looks pretty quiet around here", Miles says as they drag the raft up onto the sand. "I think we need to hide this thing. No sense in announcing our presence"

Charlotte and Daniel are both hit with their own sense of deja vu. "I've been here before", she says to Daniel as they drag the raft to the edge of the jungle, concealing it.

"Me too", replies Daniel. His mind turns to the notebook in his backpack. Some of the entries he couldn't remember writing, but they were clearly written in his handwriting.

Charlotte notices the look on Daniel's face. "What is it Daniel?" she asks.

"Nothing", he replies. "Nothing I can put my finger on anyways", he thinks to himself.

"What are we going to do now Miles?" Daniel asks.

"We are going to watch, wait and be ready. From here on out anything could happen", he replies cryptically.

***

"You're pretty quiet", James says stepping into pace beside Juliet.

"Well, I did just leave my sister and nephew behind with no idea whether I'll ever see them again. And to top it all off it is because of me that that they are even here in the first place", she replies somewhat snippy.

He's only mildly surprised by her tone. For the past few days he wasn't sure which Juliet he was going to get when she spoke. She was sad one moment, laughing the next, angry the moment after that.

"Hey", he says grabbing her hand and stopping her.

Jack and Kate stop walking to wait for James and Juliet.

"Go on ahead", James tells them, seeing them stop. "We'll catch up".

He turns his attention back to Juliet. He takes a deep breath. There was no sense in getting defensive with her that would just upset her further. "Jules", he starts. "Rachael came because she wanted too, not because she had too"

He can see she is about to snap, "Stop", he says before she can start. "Yes Julian was here, but she would have come either way. It happened Jules, and not because we wanted it too, but we are all here and once and for all it's got to end or we can never move on. This island will haunt us forever." He pulls her into a hug, and is relieved when she relaxes in his arms.

"We should keep going", she finally says pulling away from him. "Jack and Kate will be wondering what happened to us."

"Well they are just going to have to continue to wonder", Ben says stepping out from behind a tree with his gun aimed at James and Juliet.

Danny, Tom and Ethan each step out from where they were hiding their guns aimed at the pair.

"Don't even bother", Ben says to James, seeing him start to pull out his gun. "You'll be dead before you get a chance to fire it"

Ben grabs Juliet's arm, pulling her towards him and further away from James. He sticks the barrel of the gun tightly into her back.

Juliet doesn't resist, seeing that each of Tom, Danny and Ethan's guns were now pointed directly at James.

"Jules don't", James pleads.

"Don't what Sawyer. She's not stupid. She's well aware that I don't give a damn what happens to you" Ben says smirking at him.

"Just let him go, Ben", Juliet pleads. "I'll come with you. Just,... please, don't hurt him", she keeps her eyes on James. She can feel the barrel of Ben's gun digging into her back. She cries out when Ben tightens his grip on her arm and digs the gun in harder, pulling her further from James.

"You're a dead man Linus", James says glaring at him when he see's he's hurting Juliet.

"Well, actually from my point of view, it's you that is the dead man Sawyer. Oh wait, I guess it is James now isn't it."

"No", Juliet struggles frantically to get away from Ben, only to find him tighter the grip on her arm even more.

Juliet cries out again, as Danny steps closer to James his gun aimed directly at him. The relative quiet of the jungle is broken by the sounds of Juliet's screams and gunfire.


	38. Chapter 38

**Okay, this chapter was tricky to write. I'm so not good with the action stuff. Overall I hope that this chapter will make sense and not seem too out there. It had to work out this way for specific reasons ;)... You weren't going to get this till Sunday but since today is my birthday, and I ditched all school and work related commitments you are getting it early, plus I was a little mean with the ending of the last chapter. Hope you enjoy!**

**Chapter 38**

Preparing himself for what was coming next, James kept his eyes glued to Juliet. If he was going to die, he was going to die looking at her face.

The next few moments were a flurry of craziness. A familiar voice calls out a warning from behind him, "La Fleur", and then there is gunfire. He hears Juliet screams.

James glances away from Juliet just long enough to see Tom fall to the ground, blood oozing from his shoulder. "What the hell", he mutters to himself.

Unsure of what was happening he uses the distraction to his benefit. In the split second that Pickett is distracted from his mission, James pulls out his gun shooting Pickett before he had the opportunity to shoot him.

During the crazy flurry of activity Juliet is able to free herself from Ben's grasp. She pulls out her gun and aims it at Ben, stepping backwards away from him.

"Just shoot him Jules", she hears James yell at her.

She glares at Ben, gun aimed directly at his chest, something was stopping her from pulling the trigger. Ben glares back her, daring her to pull the trigger.

From behind the tree's Jack and Kate, accompanied by Miles, Charlotte and Daniel enter into the clearing, guns all primed and aimed at Ben and Ethan.

Both Juliet and James are shocked by the sudden appearance of Miles, Charlotte and Daniel.

"Jim, Juliet, long time, no see", Miles says nodding, grinning at his old friends.

Meanwhile, on the ground, Tom had regained consciousness. He notices Danny lying in a pool of blood a short distance away. Ethan and Ben were both surrounded by the rest of the group. He inches his way towards his gun.

Ben continues to glare at Juliet, "Go ahead Juliet, shoot me" he taunts her.

"Ben what the hell are you doing?" Ethan asks.

Ben looks away from Juliet and towards Ethan. "She won't do it Ethan, she won't kill me"

"Don't tempt her Ben. She saved your life once, said that she couldn't let a child die. You ain't that kid anymore", James says to Ben, his eyes still stuck on Juliet.

Knowing they were now controlling the situation James moves towards Juliet. . .

Tom inches his way towards his gun, unbeknownst to the rest of the group.

"What are we going to do with them?" Kate asks, looking from Jack to Sawyer.

Jack makes his way over to Danny, bending down he checks his pulse. "He's alive, barely"

Watching Jack check Danny's pulse, Juliet notices Tom's hand slide around his gun.

"Jack, look out, Tom", she yells. .

Jack quickly turns his attention to the other man; Juliet fires her gun hitting Tom in the chest before he had the opportunity to fire his gun. Tom falls back to the ground and takes his last breath.

Juliet again aims her gun on Ben, and steadies her hand. "You think I won't kill you too", she says glaring it him.

"Tell us what the war is", Jack says stepping up to Ben and taking his gun.

Ben shrugs his shoulders, and looks at them smirking. "What war?" he asks, shrugging his shoulders. "I only ever wanted Juliet"

"Damn, the guy has lost his mind", Miles says looking at Ben. "I guess it won't bother you to know that Charles Widmore actually come back to the island with us, and he's on the look out for you"

Ben was clearly rattled by this piece of information. That wasn't the way it was suppose to happen. He is unable to hide his shock, "What did you say?" he asks, turning his attention to Miles.

Charlotte and Daniel both shoot looks towards Miles; they had no clue whether Widmore had made it off the boat before it had blown it up. While Miles had given them just enough information about what was happening to make them trust and come with him, he'd left out parts of the previous reality, one being the fact that both of them had died.

Miles stares at Ben, "I said, I guess it won't bother you that Charles Widmore is back on the island"

"You're lying", Ben snaps back at him, "that's not the way it happened before. Charles was not on the freighter, he never came back to the island"

"Am I lying?" Miles asks with a cocky tone, shrugging his shoulders.

Ethan listens to the conversation; he had no clue what they were talking about. He drops his gun to the ground and goes over to the dying Pickett. "Let us take Danny back home so he can die with his wife by his side"

Ben looks at Ethan likes he'd lost his senses.

"It's over Ben", Ethan says looking at Ben. "Tom's dead, Danny is dying. It's over. Juliet wants nothing to do with you. Let her go."

Ben continues to watch Ethan, wondering what the man was up too. "No, no, no", he says. "This is not how this is supposed to happen" he says shaking his head, as he tried to sort out what was happening.

Juliet steps forward, she was starting to feel dizzy again and fought to keep herself standing and her gun aimed at Ben.

"I don't want to kill you Ben there has been so much death already. We've all lost so much", she says quickly glancing over to James, and then returning her attention to Ben, "Over what?" she questions. "I would pull this trigger this instant if I thought it was the only way to stop whatever it is that is going to happen", she starts.

Ben glances at Ethan, who was tending to Danny and then returns his gaze to Juliet.

"Let us go then, let us take Danny back to Colleen", he concedes for the time being.

Jack had collected the assortment of guns from the ground. "Are you sure Juliet?" he asks.

She looks to James, who just shrugs his shoulders. He didn't like it one bit, but he wasn't going to kill Ben in cold blood in front of her, if that wasn't what she wanted. She nods her head she'd made up her mind. Something was stopping her from pulling the trigger this was just the beginning, if Ben died today it wouldn't end what was going to happen. She couldn't explain it, but Ben wasn't meant to die today.

"Go", she says to the two men, before she had the opportunity to change her mind. "But know that the next time I'm presented with this opportunity, I will kill you Ben" she says coldly, training her ice blue glare at Ben.

Ben catches Juliet's glare, he'd never seen that look in her eye before. Redirecting his attention, Ben goes over to Ethan and the two men pick up Danny. He glances back at the assembled group, "This was just the beginning" they hear his voice say as the three disappear into the jungle.

The entire assembled group watches at Ben, Ethan and Danny disappear.

James returns his attention to Juliet, and notices the colour had drained from her face. "Jules", he says, steadying her as she looked like she was about to fall. "Whoa there Blondie", he says holding her beneath her arms to keep her upright, when she starts to sway.

The dizziness passes as quickly as it had come on, and she looks up at James. "I'm okay"

He eyes her suspisciously, but seeing her colour returning, pulls her into his arms, hugging her tightly. When he finally let's go of her, and looks her up and down. "He didn't hurt you did he?"

She shakes her head.

"Are you sure about letting him go Jules?" he asks. "He's not going to stop you know, he's going to come back for you"

She sighs, "I know, but I couldn't do it. I can't explain it but something was holding me back from pulling the trigger on that gun. I wanted too, but I just couldn't do it."

"But letting him go?" he continues.

"I don't know James, I honestly can't explain it. Ben may play like he has no clue what is going to happen, but I believe that he does know. He's of no use to us tied up somewhere. He'll never willingly tell us the truth."

"I don't like it Juliet, Sawyer's right, he's not going to give up on you", Jack says stepping forward.

She looks down at the body of Tom lying on the ground and towards the jungle where Ben and Ethan had just disappeared with Danny. "I hope I didn't just make a huge mistake", she thinks to herself, hoping her instincts about Ben were correct. She turns her attention to their friends. "Miles", she says. "How did you guys get here? Why did you come back?" she asks.

James also turns his attention to the others that had joined them. He was taken aback at the sudden appearance of Daniel, Miles and Charlotte. The previous evening when they'd seen the freighter blow up he'd wondered about their fate. He had hoped for their sakes that they had chosen not to come on the freighter, but now here they were standing in front of him.

Miles grins at Juliet and James. "What stay home and let you guys have all the island fun?" he jokes. "Always have to have a plan, isn't that right Jim" he smirks.

"It's good to see you Miles", James, stepping forward hugging his old friend.

Charlotte and Daniel look at them sceptically. Of course Miles had mentioned their friends on the island, but having no memory of the previous reality, the people now standing in front of them were strangers.

Seeing the looks on the faces of the Charlotte and Daniel, Jack steps forward and puts out his hand to Daniel, "Jack Shephard", he says, "and this is Kate Austen". Kate steps forward as well, shaking hands with the new members of their group. "We'll explain everything later", Jack says to the confused looking pair, "I'm sure you both have lots of questions for us".

Daniel nods, "You could say that"

"You guys sure do have good timing", James says.

"Well when you guys didn't catch up, we came back to find you. We saw Ben and the others pull their guns on you. Miles, Daniel and Charlotte came upon us about the same time. You know the rest"

James nods his head. "So what now?" he asks, they'd let Ben go without having a clue what was going to happen next.

"Back to the beach" Miles says with a smirk. "Isn't that always the back up plan?"

James gives him a look. "Yes, smart ass" James says laughing at Miles, "We are going back to the beach" he realizes how much he'd missed his Miles sarcasm.

***

Once they are well away from the group, Ethan and Ben stop to rest and give Ethan an opportunity to tend to Danny.

Ethan looks at Ben, trying to figure out what the man was thinking.

"What the hell happened back there?" Ethan asks.

Ben is pacing back and forth, he'd been able to think of nothing else but the fact that Charles Widmore might be on the island. How? Why?

"Ben", Ethan says louder.

"Is he going to live?" Ben says, gesturing towards Danny.

"He might", Ethan says full of uncertainty, "we need to get him back to the barracks and I can remove the bullet."

Ben sighs, he wanted to go back and find out what he could about Widmore. "Let's go then, the quicker we get him to the barracks the quicker I can gather more men and get back to the beach"

"They'll kill you the next time Ben"

"Won't matter" he says, "if Widmore is back on this island I could lose everything anyways." He continues to pace, "this wasn't the way things were suppose to happen", he says evasively. "This isn't what Jacob said it would be"


	39. Chapter 39

**Chapter 39**

"You're trying to tell us that all of this, the island, it has happened before? We've been to the island before", Charlotte says in disbelief at the story they'd just been told, looking over at an equal confused looking Daniel.

Miles nods his head. "Yes and no". What just happened out there in the jungle that was new. But yes we came to the island before"

"That's just ridiculous" she replies.

"Well", Daniel says getting up and going to his back pack. He pulls out his notebook and starts flipping through pages, "maybe not as ridiculous as you might think Charlotte. Some of what you are saying explains some of the things in my notebook. The majority of it I remember writing, some parts I don't. . ", he trails off without mentioning he had been having problems with his memory. But what Miles was saying did put some things into perspective.

"But what I don't understand", Daniel continues "is why do you all remember, and Charlotte and I, and the rest of the people on the freighter don't seem to have a clue"

"Well", Jack looks to the rest of the group, "it seems to have something to do with whether or not a person was alive when the reset happened"

Charlotte looks to Daniel and then at the rest of the group, "You're telling us that we were dead?" she asks.

There were silent nods from most of the group.

Daniel flips frantically through his notebook looking for the answers he wanted. On multiple pages he'd jotted into the margins, "whatever happens happens". Frustrated at not finding the answers he wanted he tosses the notebook back in his backpack.

"But we've learned that some things have changed", says James. "It seems that the Oceanic 815 passengers that died when the plane crashed, died anyways when the plane didn't crash. Those who were on the island, Ben's people, they didn't die"

Daniel gets up, pacing while he figured things out. He watches Charlotte as she tries to make sense of the information as well. "Well", he says turning back to face the group, "What happens now?"

"We don't know", Sayid chimes in. "Ben has repeatedly said there was going to be some kind of war, we don't know what is going to happen, but we're fairly certain the key lies at the statue"

***

"We should head back Juliet", James says walking up to her. "It's been a long day, nothing is happening here tonight"

Juliet glances up at the statue she was getting impatient waiting for whatever was going to happen.

He wraps his arms around her, kissing her gently, "When Ben grabbed you today. . " he stops.

Shaking her head she replies, "But he didn't get me"

"But the point was that he had you, it was too close Juliet. I couldn't handle it if I lost you"

"You aren't going to lose me", she says looking up at him.

"I'm going to hold you to that" he says with a smile. "I have plans for us when all this is over"

She smiles, "Plans, I like the sounds of that. What kind of plans?"

He gives her a big dimpled smile. "Well . . " he trails off teasingly. "I'm not sure I'm going to let you in on them yet"

"Hey" she says hitting him playfully in the shoulder, "If I'm going to participate in those plans you best let me in on them. Besides", she says giving him her own teasing look. "I have my own plans for us"

He stands, looking at her amused.

"Okay, okay, I give up" she says getting more serious.

"When all this is over I want you to marry me, I want to make it official"

This she wasn't expecting, she steps back from him and gives him a surprised look.

He chuckles, "Well, umm. . .that isn't exactly the response I was looking for"

A tear drips from her eye and she throws her arms around him, kissing him. "Of course I'll marry you" she mumbles against his lips.

He is beaming when they finally separate, "that's more like it. I love you Jules, and almost losing you again today made me wonder why we ever waited. We may be stuck on this crazy damn island but that doesn't mean we can't plan the rest of our lives"

"What are your thoughts on having a pregnant bride?" she asks, throwing the question at him out of the blue.

He eyes her suspiciously, "Blondie?"

When the thought of being pregnant had first entered her mind earlier that day she'd tried to talk herself out of it being true. The more she'd thought about the symptoms she'd been having the more she realized that in all likelihood it was true.

She smiles and nods her head, "I'm not 100% sure, more like just 98%. .. . "

It was his turn to just stand looking at her surprised.

"James? The timing is rotten and we are stuck on this damn island, but"

She is interrupted by him pulling her into his arms and placing his lips over her and sliding a hand down over her abdomen. . "We'll make it work Jules" he mumbles against her. .

Jack and Kate walk out from behind the statue towards James and Juliet.

"Let's go see if they are ready to head out. It'll be morning soon, the others will be wondering what we are going to do next", Jack says to Kate.

"Doesn't look like we should interrupt", Kate says glancing over at James and Juliet.

"Yeah, I guess we should give them another few minutes"

A few moments later . . . .

A gunshot rings out in the night and chaos erupts again. . .

From the tree line, Ben emerges followed by some of his men.

"What the hell", James says stepping in front of Juliet to protect her. "Go for the statue" he yells to her.

Gun drawn and aimed towards Ben and his men, Juliet runs towards the base of the statue with Kate on her heals.

Jack and James step forward, guns aimed towards Ben and his men while the girls run towards the safety of the statue.

Juliet stops when she sees Ben aiming his gun towards James. .

"James" she yells . .

She raises her gun, "I told you the next time I laid eyes on you I would kill you Ben", she whispers to herself as she pulls the trigger.

She is a moment too late, as Ben had pulled the trigger on his gun as well.

"James" she screams again, as she watches him fall to the ground.

"Juliet", Kate screams, following Juliet as she ran towards James. She fires her gun numerous times in quick succession at the few of Ben's other men that remained standing. Out of the corner of her eyes she sees Ben has also fallen to the ground. Ben's remaining few men retreat back into the jungle.

Juliet drops to the ground beside James, blood was pooling under him in the sand. "Jack", she yells, her voice full of panic. Her tears mixing with the pool of blood in the sand.

She is barely aware that Jack has dropped down beside her and begins to frantically search for the source of the bleeding. .

Kate glances over Jack's shoulder, feeling her own tears burning in her eyes. She can't watch the scene and walks over to Ben, checking his pulse she finds it faint. "Why did you do it you bastard?" she sobs, "Why did you bring us back here, when you knew it was going to end like this. . . "

"All I wanted was her. This isn't the way it is suppose to . . . ", he stops talking and his eyes close, the rise and fall of his chest slows until it stops completely.

Kate watches him for another moment, shaking her head as she turns and walks back to Juliet, Jack and Sawyer.

Jack fumbles through his backpack trying to find any supplies which would help them.

He feels Sawyer's cool hand touch his and he glances down at the man. . "It's okay doc" he whispers. . "Get Juliet off the island", he continues, coughing between words, "Make sure she's safe."

Jack shakes his head "You will be able to do that, you are the one that will protect her"

Juliet cradles James head in her lap, she was unable to stop the steady flow of tears. . "No James" she says softly brushing her fingers along his forehead, her other hand wrapped tightly in his. "You have to fight, you can't leave me. I need you, we need you"

He looks up at her, "I'm sorry Blondie" he whispers. "I love you, I will always love you", he trails off, his eyes close and his hand falls limp in hers.

"No" she cries, putting her head down against his, "James, you can't leave me ", she sobs.

Kate turns, walking away from the scene, tears falling openly from her eyes.

Jack gets up and walks towards her, pulling her into his arms.


	40. Chapter 40

**Alrighty, first off. . sorry for leaving you hanging with the last chapter. I'll admit that I had pretty much decided that the last chapter was going to be it and I was done writing this story. But I figured I'd come this far I might as well finish it. So here is the beginning of the end. I figure there are about 4 chapters to go after this.**

**Chapter 40**

Juliet tosses and turns in her sleep, the blanket beneath her drenched from her tears.

"_You can't leave me, please don't leave me. You promised me we'd always be together" she cries over James lifeless body. _

"No" she screams out, sitting bolt upright.

The tarp on the makeshift tent was pushed aside, and Kate appears in the doorway.

"Juliet?"

Juliet pushes her fingers through her hair and looks down at the empty spot beside her.

"James", she thinks to herself.

Kate moves further into the tent, unnerved a bit by Juliet's strange actions.

"Juliet, what is it?" she asks, her hand meeting Juliet's.

Juliet looks at her hands, expecting to see James' blood it had been so real, her heart felt as though it was breaking from the overwhelming feeling of losing him.

Her eyes shift to Kate's.

She ignores Kate's question and hesitates a moment before speaking, unsure if she wanted to know the answer. "Where is James?" she finally asks.

"He went with Jack to the statue", she says, still unsure what was up with Juliet. "What has you so upset Juliet? He was going to wake you up and let you know that he was going, but you haven't been feeling well and he said you were so exhausted that he wanted to just let you sleep"

Juliet's heart sinks at hearing James was gone to the statue. Maybe it had been a dream, but maybe the dream was just about to become reality.

"Oh God", she says jumping up, only to be stopped by Kate grabbing her arm.

"Juliet, please tell me what it is. I can see the fear all over your face"

"James is going to die" she blurts out. "We need to go to the statue, Ben is going to be there. He's going to kill him"

Kate shakes her head, how could Juliet possibly know what was going to happen. "You had a dream Juliet. It was a dream. They'll be back here before you know it"

Juliet pulls away from Kate and rushes from the tent. Kate gets up and follows her.

"Juliet wait", she calls after her.

Juliet stops and turns to face Kate, and at that particular moment she notices James and Jack walking back into the camp.

Relief floods through her, but she can't stop the tears that stream from her eyes. She ignores Kate's looks and runs past her towards James.

"Hey", he says wrapping his arms around her, baffled at her behaviour. "I wasn't gone that long", he says running his hand soothingly down her hair.

"Blondie", he finally says when she continues to cling to him. "I'm sorry Blondie, if I'd know it would upset you like this I would have woken you up before I left", he says completely at a loss over her behaviour the past couple days.

Kate approaches the pair. "She woke up a few minutes ago screaming, she'd been crying in her sleep. When I said that you and Jack had gone to the statue she freaked out and said that Ben was there and he was going to kill you"

He pulls away from Juliet and looks her in the eyes. "I'm not going to let Ben kill me Blondie" he says seriously.

She looks up at him, "It was so real", she says. "I held you in my arms, you took your last breath. There was nothing we could do ...."

"Shh", he says pulling her back into his arms again. "It was just a dream Juliet. I'm here, I'm safe"

It was her turn to pull away from him, and she gets a distant look in her eyes. "For how long?" she says. "I never should have let Ben go. I had my opportunity to end it, I didn't take it. And now...."

"Juliet" he interrupts her.

She stops and looks at him.

"Don't do that to yourself, you made a decision and you were right. If you'd have killed Ben today it wouldn't have ended all of this, the more I think about it I'm more than convinced he's a player in whatever the hell kind of crazy game we are involved in here."

She sighs and finally concedes. "You're right"

"Wait" he says with a dimpled smile and in a teasing tone, "What was that?" he questions, "do my ears deceive me, surely you didn't just say, I was right".

She can't help but smile, "Yes", she says shaking her head at him. "I said you were right, there really is a first time for everything".

He feigns a hurt look, putting his hand over his heart, "Ouch" he says and then pulls her into his arms again, hugging her tightly. "Nothing's going to happen to us Juliet"

"I hope you are right on that one too" she thinks to herself.

***

"Yes Jacob, I understand", Richard says to the man as he exits the base of the statue. "I will be back as soon as I can"

"There you are", Charles Widmore says, stepping out of the darkness and into the moonlight. "I knew I'd find you here"

"You", Richard says unable to hide his surprise.

"Ahh, yes" Charles replies, "It has taken many years, but the island has finally welcomed me back with open arms"

"But", Richard starts, only to be cut off by the Charles.

"But I was never supposed to be allowed to come back?" Charles finishes his sentence.

Richard nods, "How?" he asks, humouring Charles while he told his story.

"It's very simple" Charles replies. "The rules changed"

Richard looks sceptically at the man standing in front of him.

"Oh Richard" Charles laughs, "I would have thought after all this time on the island, you better than anyone would know that 'anything' can happen"

Annoyed with the games Charles seemed to be playing Richard shakes his head, "Why are you here Charles?" Richard asks.

"It's simple really, this is my island"

"Your island?"

Charles nods, "Enough with the idle chatter Richard, take me to Benjamin"

"I'm sorry, but I can't do that"

"What do you mean, you can't"

"If you want Ben, he's at the barracks. Surely you remember where that is"

Charles looks suspiciously at Richard. "Just like that?"

"Just like that" Richard replies. "I have much more pressing matters than your power struggles with Ben"

"It really is going to happen isn't it. It was not just a prophecy?" Charles asks, catching on to the fact that Richard really wasn't all that surprised to see him after all.

"I hope you are truly prepared for what's to going to happen next Charles. You should have stayed away from the island"

With that Richard walks off into the night.

It had been many days since a storm had rocked the island, but as Richard walks away the sky lights up with lighten and thunder rumbles across the sky.

***

By morning Richard arrived at the temple. He pushes open the door and walks inside. He runs his fingers across the Egyptian hieroglyphics which cluttered the walls, so many battles, so many stories.

"Are you ready?" he asks approaching the man that was walking towards him.

The man nods, "Yes, if it means that I can get off this godforsaken island once and for all, I will do whatever you want. You have kept me waiting in this temple for so long I've forgotten what it is like outside." He shakes his head, "I'm not even certain how I got here. One day I was living my life, sailing around the world with my wife and son, the next I'm stuck in this temple, back on this damn island"

"Trust me, it was all for good reason. Eloise told you that the island wasn't done with you yet"

"So what" he says angrily, "Three years I've been held hostage here, and now finally the island is ready to be done with me?"

"It had to be the right time"

"I don't understand, the right time for what?"

"You already know more than enough"

He laughs, "I know nothing"

"You know what you need to do", Richard tells him, "And if you do as you have been instructed you will be off the island and free of it forever. You will have fulfilled your destiny Desmond"

"Why should I believe you?"

Richard shrugs his shoulder, "I don't see that you have any other choice Desmond. You can take a chance and do as I have instructed you, or you can stay here and spent the rest of your life on the island"

Desmond sighs and picks up his back pack. He pushes open the temple door, looking back over his shoulder he glares at Richard. "See you in another life brother" he says leaving the temple and heading on his mission.


	41. Chapter 41

**So I was on a roll. . so here's chapter 41 (it was a fun chapter to write). .**

**Chapter 41**

**Another two weeks pass...**

"Where are we going Juliet?" he asks after they'd walked for over an hour. "We told Jack that we wouldn't be too long. It's not safe for us to be trouncing through the jungle without everyone else"

She gives him an exasperated look. He'd been moaning since they'd left. "We are almost there"

"Are we going to the caves to see Rachael and Julian?" he asks trying to guess where she was taking him.

"No, we aren't, but we might stop there on the way back"

"Jules" he says grabbing her arms.

She stops and looks back at him. "Just trust me okay"

"You know that I trust you with my life Blondie, but I'm beginning to wonder about ya" he meant that in the nicest possible way, but damn the woman had been unpredictable lately. Her moods were crazier than he could ever remember.

She laughs, shakes her head at him and continues to walk.

"Women" he mutters under his breath as he continues to follow her.

A short while later he begins to recognize their surroundings. "What are we doing here?" he asks, trying to figure out just what she was up too. "This probably isn't the safest place to be what with Ben trying to kill me, and get his hands on you"

She pushes the branches from the doorway of the Staff station. "It was either come here, or waltz into the barracks. We need to know if what I suspect is really true, and this seemed like the more suitable alternative"

"Juliet" he finally says, frustration evident in his tone, "Would you just spill it already woman"

"So impatient" she mutters as she pulls open the doors to the station. "We should be safe here, the Others barely ever come here"

"Barely ever, but sometimes" he adds as he follows her down the stairs and into the station.

He follows her down the dimly lit hallway. He touches the gun he had tucked into his belt, reassuring himself that it was still there in case he needed to pull it out and protect them.

They enter into the small locker room. She walks over to the wall and pulls the switch, revealing the secret room. She leads him inside. While the room looked slightly different from when she'd brought Sun here, what seemed like a lifetime ago, what she had come for still sat in the middle of the room.

James looks around the room and gives Juliet a perplexed look as it finally dawns on him why she brought him here. "Are you sure?" he asks, both completely ecstatic and petrified of what her response would be.

"That's what we are here to find out." She walks over to the machine, praying that it would come to life when she hit the power button. She almost jumps for joy when the power button lights up green and the dark screen lights up.

"What now?" he asks.

"Now we find out for sure." She moves the machine closer to the examining table, and climbs up on the table. She undoes the button on her jeans and pushes up her shirt. She'd done thousands of ultrasounds before, but never one on herself. She points to the bottle of ultrasound jelly and James hands it to her. She pours the jelly out onto her abdomen, hits a few keys on the machine and moves the probe towards her abdomen.

He touches her hand before she is able to start. "Which ever way this goes Jules, I love you", he says leaning down and kissing her softly.

"I love you back James". She takes a deep breath and places the probe on her abdomen. With her other hand she reaches over and hits some more buttons on the machine.

Both sets of eyes are fixated on the screen. She moves the probe around until finally what she was looking for appears on the screen. She cracks a smile and her hand moves to the screen. "There" she gestures at the screen, "That's our baby" she says barely above a whisper.

His hand meets hers at the screen, "Sonofa . .

She steadies the probe and watches the beating heart, hitting another button and the baby's heart rate pops up on the machine. She notices James eyes glued to the picture on the screen. "It's amazing isn't it?"

He can only nod, mesmerized by the screen, and the tiny beating heart. "How far?" he asks.

She studies the screen for a moment, playing with the buttons while she did a few measurements. "Looks like about 7 weeks"

He thinks back, calculating in his head. "So it happened on the island?"

She nods, "Looks that way, we've been back here almost three months already"

He pushes his hands through his hair, "Damn Juliet, I've been going crazy thinking you were sick and hiding it from me. The tiredness, the dizziness, the throwing up over the past few weeks, and you kept telling me you were fine"

"I'm sorry" she apologizes. "I wasn't sure at first"

"At first, Jules, how long have you known?"

"I've suspected it for the last two weeks"

"The last two weeks, damn Juliet"

"James, please" she sets the probe back on the machine and sits up, buttoning up her jeans and pulling down her top. "Yes, I should have told you when I first suspected but now we know for certain."

He shakes his head at her, as much as he wanted to be annoyed he couldn't be. He looks into her blue eyes; no other woman could do to him what this one could. He wraps his arms around her, "Please, just don't hide anything else from me woman, my heart can't take it"

She laughs, pulling away from him. "Deal just as long as you promise not to worry too much"

It was his turn to laugh, "Blondie, you know there is not a not a chance in hell that is gonna happen. Since the moment flight 815 dropped and I remembered our past together I've done nothing but worry about you. And you haven't been doing anything to stop me from worrying"

"Touche" she laughs and then gets more serious. "I know this complicates things"

He nods in agreement, "It does, but we'll figure it out. It's not like anything on this damn island of mystery ever happens predictably"

She takes his hands in hers. "We should go; if I know Jack he'll be organizing a search party by now"

"Did you tell him where you were bringing me?" he asks.

She shakes her head, "Nope, he doesn't know either. If he's figured it out, he hasn't said anything yet"

Juliet hops down off the exam table and puts things back where they were. She follows James to the door, switching off the light and making sure it looked exactly as it had before they came.

"Everything is going to change now" he says as they step out into the sunlight.

She nods her head she'd known the moment they left camp that morning that things were going to be different from then on out. If only they'd really been able to predict how different things were going to be, and how none of it pertained to their baby.

**********

Desmond had walked across the island, finally arriving at the Orchid station. He pulls out the instructions that Richard had given him. He pushes open the Orchid door and walks inside. Following Richard's instructions makes his way down to the station beneath the Orchid. He continues to follow the instructions, doing as Ben had done in the previous island reality.

Finally he is making his way down the ladder, and finds himself looking at the giant frozen wheel. "What the hell" he thinks to himself.

He shrugs his shoulders, he had no choice. If he was ever getting back to Penny, to their life together, he had to do this. "I love you Penny", he says aloud as he places his hands on the wheel and pushes...

Outside, the silence is taken over by a buzzing sound and sky turns white . . .

To be continued....

****

**Game on....The stage is now set for the final couple of chapters ;).**


	42. Chapter 42

**Okay, so here's chapter 42. LOL I feel like while this is a long chapter, it really moves us nowhere :).. okay, well it moves us somewhere, but really nowhere at the same time! I'm hoping that I'm not writing myself into a corner here, although I do have the ending mapped out. **

** Just to clarify the dream chapter. . the dream was everything after the 'group' conversation. Everything that happened at the statue with James, Juliet, Jack and Kate was all Juliet's dream. . so sorry, no proposal happened yet. On the upside, maybe it'll still happen before the story is over (That is assuming they all survive till the end) ;)... **

**Chapter 42**

Juliet and James are almost back to the beach when the first flash occurs. At the sound of the buzzing, and as the sky turns white they both grab their head and drop to the ground.

It had just been starting to get dark when the flash occurred, and now the sun was shining brightly in the sky.

"Sonofbitch", James says when it finally stops and he is able to glance over at Juliet.

"What the hell", Juliet says standing up, hands still on her head.

"You don't think?" James asks.

"It's not possible" she says not wanting to believe it. "James, we need to get back to the others"

He nods in agreement and they quickly make the rest of the way back to towards the beach. They are met at the tree line by the rest of the group.

It takes only a moment for them to realize their camp was gone.

"Sonofabitch" James says, for the second time in the past twenty minutes as he realizes the full impact of what this new development meant. "It really is happening again"

'But how?" Miles asks.

"What's happening again?" Kate pipes up, confused over the latest turn of events. "Where did our camp go?"

"We moved", Miles starts.

"Through time" Daniel finishes for him, figuring out what had just happened. "We need to figure out when we are" he continues.

Juliet touches James arm, "We need to go to the caves. I need to get to Rachael and Julian"

He nods and looks to the rest of the group. "Juliet's right. We need to get to the others first. When we are doesn't matter right now"

Daniel is about to protest when Miles pulls him aside, "We listen to Jim, Dan. If he says we are going to the caves, we are going to the caves. They are right, when we are doesn't matter right now"

Jack glances back out at the water, a boat could just be seen out on the horizon. "What the", he starts.

"Hell is that", Miles finishes.

James looks at towards what they were looking at, "Sonofabitch, I think that's the Black Rock"

"How is that even possible?" Sayid inquires.

"What part of _'we are moving through time'_ did you miss man?" Miles asks.

"Guess we have a good idea of when we are now", adds Charlotte.

Juliet shakes her head in disbelief, this was really happening again. She glances at Charlotte, having full understanding of what the time jumps could mean for her. "We need to go", Juliet chimes in. "There's no telling when it will happen again. We don't have a lot of time", she adds cryptically.

They grab the few belongings that travelled with them, and set off towards the caves.

***

Ben, Ethan, Danny, and Colleen were in an out-rigger headed around the island when the first flash occurred.

"Ahh", Ben says grabbing his head as the buzzing overtook the calm of the day, and the flash of white light lit up the sky.

"What the hell" Ethan says, dropping his paddle and clutching his head.

As quickly as it started it was over.

Colleen rubs her aching head, "Danny", she says reaching towards him. "Your nose, it's bleeding"

His hand moves to his nose and he rubs away the trickle of blood. "Yours is too" he gestures back at her.

"What the hell was that Ben", Danny asks.

Ben shrugs his shoulders, "I don't know", he quickly replies, but wonders if he truly did know what had just happened.

They begin to turn the outrigger, "We need to get back to shore" Ethan says, what if it happens again.

As they turn they see another outrigger further out in the water. "No wait", Ben says stopping them. "We can't go back yet". He gestures towards the other boat.

"Ben that boat wasn't there five minutes ago, what is going on"

"I said I don't know" Ben snaps, annoyed at having lost control of the situation. Richard had given him no warning this was going to start.

He pulls out his rifle, and fires a shot at the other boat.

"Ben", Ethan yells at him, "What are you doing?"

"What do you think I'm doing", replies Ben. "I'm trying to stop them. You just said yourself that boat wasn't there five minutes ago"

A figure in the outrigger ahead of them turns and fires back at them, the bullet hits Ben in the shoulder and he slumps over the side of the outrigger.

The buzzing starts again, and the sky turns white....

***

The group is almost to the caves when the next flash occurs. The flash was longer this time, just by moments but those extra moments felt like hours. The majority of them dropped to their knees on the ground, hands to foreheads in a vane attempt at putting a stop to the headache that accompanied the flashes.

"You okay?" James asks Juliet, offering her a hand to help her up when finally it had ended.

She only nods in answer to his question and reaches for his hand, "are you?" she asks back.

"Yup" he replies.

Behind them, Charlotte had stood, feeling faint she'd put her hand back to her head and then suddenly dropped back to the ground, blood oozing from her nose. Daniel had dropped to the ground beside her, "Charlotte" he calls out to her, grabbing her hand.

"What the hell", Jack says rushing to Charlotte's side. He reaches into his back pack, pulling out a roll of bandage to use to stop the blood from Charlotte's nose.

Juliet drops to the ground beside Jack, "it's happening because of the flashes" she explains. "The effect is the worst on those who've spent the most amount of time on the island"

She glances back at James, between her, James and Miles they had now spent years on the island. She couldn't help but wonder that if Charlotte were to succumb to the same fate she had previously, would it now be their fate as well.

It took no time for James to catch the gist of Juliet's look, and he comes to stand behind her. "It's not going to happen to us Jules. We know what has to happen for this to stop"

"Do we?" she asks, standing up and facing him. "All we know is that we sent John down that well at the Orchid site. He told us he had to bring the others back to save us. You know as well as I do that we were saved without the others coming back. The flashes stopped well before they came back here. We don't know what the hell John did down there to stop it, or for that matter_ 'if'_ it was even him that stopped it"

He nods in agreement, yes they didn't know what he'd done to stop the flashes but they did stop after he'd gone down that well. "Still Jules, I think we need to go to the Orchid, it's where all this started, and stopped"

The blood had stopped seeping from Charlotte's nose and she'd started to rouse. Jack stands and joins Juliet and James. They were joined by Kate, Miles and Sayid.

Jack glances down at Charlotte, who was now sitting and chatting with Daniel. Keeping his voice low he directs his question to Juliet, "how long does she have?"

Juliet quickly glances at Charlotte and then back at the rest of the group. "It is happening quicker this time, if we don't stop the flashes soon she doesn't have long"

"And we stop the flashes how?" Sayid chimes in.

James, Juliet and Miles all shake their head. "We don't know. The Orchid site seems to be the key"

From behind them, there is rustling in the bushes.

Juliet turns at the sound of a young voice, "_Auntie Juliet_", the little boy says in an excited tone, as he runs away from his mother and into the clearing.

"Julian wait" she hears her sisters voice, followed by the sound of baby Aaron's cries.

"Rachael" she says approaching her sister and the rest of the group from the cave. She throws her arms around her sister. "Are you guys alright?"

"Mmhmm", Rachael exclaims.

"Hey buddy", Juliet says picking up her nephew and hugging him to her tightly. She doesn't miss the embrace between her sister and Sayid. "We were just coming to find you guys"

Jin approaches James, "Jim, why are the flashes happening again?" he asks.

"Your guess is as good as mine Jin" he replies.

"Any idea how to stop it?" Goodwin asks.

They all shake their heads, "We were just discussing that before you guys showed up. All we know is whatever it is, it lies beneath the Orchid station"

"Then it seems we are off to the Orchid station next" Daniel chimes in his opinion, not taking his eyes off Charlotte.

As they gather up their belongings and start to move again, Juliet flashes back to the day at the swan site when she saw John. She grabs James arm to stop him from walking, and they allow the rest of the group continues on ahead of them.

"What is it Jules?" he asks. "You okay?"

"Fine" she says. "I just remembered something. The day at the Swan site, the day I saw John. He said that we couldn't allow Ben to move the island again. He said if we did it would all start again"

He can see her begin to panic, "Jules, we don't even know that is what happened. There's no reason to think it's all going to happen again"

"All this is pretty familiar, don't you think? What if the only way to end this is me falling down that hole at the Swan site, only this time not setting off that bomb? Or, worse we die before we get to that point and just fade away like Charlotte did"

"Hey" he says giving her a serious look, "Don't you even think like that"

"Jules, this time we are armed with knowledge of what happens. The last time we knew nothing. Dan and his, whatever happens, happens. He was wrong Jules, we changed things. We weren't suppose to remember and we did, that has to mean something"

She wraps her arms around him, feeling safe in his arms.

"I hope you are right James"

***

Once the flash ended, Ethan searches the waters for the outrigger and the people who'd fired back at them, it was gone.

"What is going on?" he screams back at Danny and Colleen, while leaning forward to check on Ben.

Danny and Colleen turn the outrigger and head for shore. They arrive back at the beach. Danny and Ethan get Ben out of the outrigger and drag him onto the sand.

"Looks like the bullet went right through", Ethan says after examining the bullet wound in Ben's shoulder. He pulls some supplies out of the outrigger.

Ethan is just finished bandaging Ben's arm and putting it into a sling when Ben starts to come to.

"What the hell", Ben says while attempting to sit. He stops himself when he's met with sharp pains shooting through his arm.

"Well, those people in the other outrigger didn't think too much of you shooting at them. They shot back Ben, and hit you. Lucky for you, it's just a shoulder wound. You'll live for now", Ethan explains in a slightly irritated tone.

"Thanks", Ben replies sarcastically. With Ethan's help he gets himself to a standing position.

Ben turns to start walking and Colleen stops him. "Ben, what's going on, what is happening to the island? What the hell are those flashes?"

Ben turns and looks at his people, "I'm not entirely sure, but I think the island is shifting through time".

They all look at him blankly, clearly he'd lost his too much blood, or he'd finally just plain lost his mind, he was talking nonsense.

Ethan shakes his head, "Are you listening to yourself Ben?"

"I know that it sounds crazy, but it has happened before. Only the last time, I started it"

Ben is met again with three blank stares.

"You started it?" Danny steps towards him. "If it has happened before, why don't we remember?"

"Well there's a very simple answer to that question", Ben snaps back getting frustrated, they needed to get moving and this discussion was solving nothing.

"Ok", says Ethan stepping towards Ben, "I'll bite, what's the simple answer?"

"You were all dead", Ben says glaring at the three of them.

It takes her a second to regain herself, but finally Colleen steps forward. "What do we do now?"

Ben paces and thinks. _How, Why? He wonders to himself_. '_Could it have been Widmore? Was he really back on the island? Could he have gone to the Orchid? Could he have started the island shifting, but why? There were so many questions and so few answers. Why would Charles work so hard to get back to the island just to move it and get thrown off of it again?'_

"We need to go to the statue, it's time I finally speak to Jacob" he announces.

"Time you _finally _speak to Jacob", the three speak in unison.


	43. Chapter 43

**Sorry for the long delay between chapters. Real life has gotten in my way (hate when that happens!). Hopefully those of you who have been reading are still interested in this story. This is the second last chapter and the end has been written (finally :))... I am looking for a volunteer to proof my final chapter (just to make sure it makes sense) before I post it. It makes sense in my head, but you know sometimes that doesn't translate well when I type it out. If you are interested let me know! Thanks again to all of you who have left reviews during this long drawn out saga. I very much appreciate and enjoy reading them (so please don`t stop reviewing now)**

**Chapter 43 **

It had been about twelve hours since the last flash. None of them really had any idea whether it should be night or day anymore. Whenever it was that they had started flashing, it seemed like days ago.

During the last flash, when they had moved Charlotte had stayed, just as she'd done in the previous reality.

James shot a look over at Daniel, who was bunked down beside a tree. Daniel hadn`t spoken a single word since Charlotte had disappeared, or was it that them who had disappeared? Despite having experienced this once before, he still really wasn't sure how to explain it.

He watched as Julian played with Alex, how he wished he could be as oblivious to the situation as the kid was. Aaron was asleep in Claire's arms. Thankfully, the baby also seemed unaffected by the frequent flashes.

He momentarily panics when he searches for Juliet and can't find her. Kate notes the look of panic on his face and gestures over behind a nearby tree. "Thanks" he mouths to Kate and turns and heads towards Juliet.

It look one glance at her face to know that she was still having morning sickness, or night sickness or afternoon sickness, whatever the hell time of day it was.

"Hey" he says handing the canteen to her so she could rinse her mouth out.

"Thanks" she says accepting the canteen.

"You okay?" he asks, reaching out and tucking her hair behind her ears.

"Mm hmm" she nods. "The nausea is actually reassuring. With all the flashing we are doing, as long as I am nauseous I can still hope that the baby is okay"

He pulls her into his arms, running his hand down the back of her head. "It's going to be okay Juliet"

"I hope you're right", she replies, knowing full well that neither of them could promise that everything was going to be alight.

"What happens now?" she asks, still safely tucked into his embrace.

"Goodwin left for the Orchid station."

She pulls away from him, "What?" she asks in disbelief, "you guys just let him go by himself?"

"Jules" he starts, "he's faster on his own. There are too many of us to go off trouncing through the jungle. Your sister, Julian, Claire, Aaron, Dan" he pauses momentarily, "and you, it's too much"

"I'm fine" she replies defensively.

He expected her defensiveness, "I know that you are fine, but there are very few things I can do to make all this easier for you. If there is anything I can do, I'm going to do. Blondie, we have no clue what is going to happen. Goodwin volunteered to do this and Jack, Sayid and I agreed"

"But what if" she trails off.... Only a few hours earlier she'd watched Charlotte die. She'd managed so far to keep Alex and Goodwin alive but what if they were still going to die, just like the rest.

"He wanted to do it Juliet. He knew full well what he was getting into." He places his fingers under her chin and lifts her head so they are looking eye to eye. "And you", he says reading her mind, "I want you to make me a promise"

She nods her head and he continues, "no matter what happens, I want you to promise me that you aren't going to let go"

She couldn't deny the fact that since Charlotte's death she'd thought alot about her own mortality. Was all this leading to her death too?

"Promise me Blondie" he repeats, sensing her hesitation.

Before she can respond, they are interrupted by the buzzing noise, the white light streaks through the sky and they drop to their knees. "No", Juliet cried out. The pain shooting through her head was much more intense than during any of the previous flashes. She feels the familiar trickle of blood as it oozes from her nose.

Beneath them the earth trembles and above them the sky rumbles, and then it was over.

Daylight is replaced by dusk and the moon shone brightly in the sky.

It takes her a moment to recover, and in that moment James is at her side, kneeling beside her. "Juliet" his voice was full of concern.

She looks over at him and he reaches out, dabbing away to blood that had pooled under her nose.

They slowly make it back to their feet and look around for the others, "I think its over. I think Goodwin managed to do it. That flash was different than the others, just like before"

She realizes that it was nightime again and she lifts her head to look around. She realizes her headache is gone for the first time since they had started to shift, however many hours or days ago that was. "I think you're right".

"Jim, you think it's over?" Miles asks approaching them.

He nods, "I think so"

The trio returns to the rest of the group.

Daniel breaks his silence. "It's over, wherever we are now this is where we are staying. It's where it is all going to end"

Juliet looks at James, "So help me, if we landed in 1974 again, there's no two weeks James. I am getting on that sub with or without you"

He can't help but laugh, "This time I'm with you Blondie. Remember our plan, the 1978 Cowboys, Microsoft, we'll be rich"

Rachael rolls her eyes at them, "Let's keep going. If we got really lucky we landed back in 2004 or would it be 2005 by now?"

"Try 2007", they hear a voice coming from behind a nearby tree.

They all turn to see where the voice was coming from.

"Frank?" Jack says surprised as Frank walks out into the pathway, followed by two people that only Sun recognized. "What are you doing here?"

Frank shrugs his shoulder, "I was flying a plane to Guam, next thing I know the plane runs into problems and I'm landing it on the island. These two tell me that there is going to be some kind of war" he says gesturing to the man and woman behind him. "What are you guys doing back here?"

"Long story", James replies, "one that we don't have time for right now. Where were you guys headed?"

"The Statue", Frank replies. "These two yahoos are looking for some guy named Richard Alpert"

"How convenient, looks like we are all headed in the same direction"

"Mommy I'm tired" a little voice comes from behind them, followed by the crying of a distraught baby Aaron.

James looks to Juliet, who also looked tired and drawn. "It's dark now. We'll camp out here and go for the statue at daylight."

There are nods of agreement from around the group.

"Gives us all some time to catch up", Jack says stepping forward. "Whatever it is that is going to happen at that statue, it's time for all of this to finally end"

***

Ben, Ethan, Colleen and Danny arrive at the statue just before the last flash. Before their eyes, the statue changes from the full statue, to just the foot that was present during their time period.

"What the hell", Danny says as he recovers from flash and realizes they are surrounded by darkness again.

Without any form of a light source they rely on the moonlight to light their way as they move closer to the statue. In the distance they see the flicker of light, the shape of the man carrying a torch becomes more visible as he approaches them.

"Hello Benjamin", Widmore says as he approaches the group. "It's been a long time"


	44. Chapter 44

**After many months and lots of ups and downs, here it is... The final chapter! **

**Thanks for sticking with me through this story. **

**Merry Christmas and happy 37 days till LOST season 6..**

**Final Chapter**

"You asleep?" he asks lying down beside her and gathering her into his arms.

She shakes her head. She'd had too much on her mind to possibly go to sleep despite the fact that she was beyond exhausted.

"Good" he says snuggling closer. "We didn't get a chance to finish our conversation earlier"

She turns in his arms, so that she was facing him. "What conversation was that?" she asks, knowing full well which one he meant.

He gives her a look, "You know very well the one I'm talking about Blondie. I asked you to promise me that no matter what you won't let go"

"James you know that I want too", she pauses trying to formulate her words. "Everything is turning out the same as before. We are headed into some unknown war. Sure this time Jack doesn't have a hydrogen bomb, but all the same we don't know what is going to happen"

She sighs, "Just about everyone that died before has died again. I'm pregnant again James. Granted, the last time we didn't know it at the time but everything is turning out the same, just the situation is different"

"With one big difference Juliet, this time we know, we remember everything that happened the last time".

"Precisely" she says with a hint of sadness in her voice. "I remember lying alone at the bottom of that hole" she whispers.

He pulls her tighter into his arms, and kisses her softly on the forehead. "I'm not going to lose you" he thinks to himself.

* * *

At daylight they were awaked by the sounds of a screaming baby. It wasn't an unusual occurrence and Claire was usually pretty fast at settling the child. This morning though, the baby continued to cry.

Another few minutes of crying caused Kate to sit up and looks over to where the crying was coming from. "Jack", she says placing a hand on his chest. "Claire isn't here'

"What?" she says, still groggy from sleep, "what do you mean she isn't here?" he asks sitting up. It takes him only a moment to notice what she had, the baby lying alone at the base of the tree.

Kate jumps up and quickly scoops up Aaron. "Claire" she calls out, carrying the baby further out into the bushes, "Claire, where are you?"

Jack is quickly behind her, followed by Sayid, Hurley, James and Juliet.

"Claire" they all call out her name, hoping for a response from the young woman.

"Where the hell did she go?" James asks, without really needing too. She'd disappeared once before without a trace.

"She's gone" Hurley finally says it aloud. "Just like before"

"That makes no damn sense", James replies, "why would she just walk off and leave Aaron?"

"Does any of this make sense?" Juliet chimes in.

"What do we do now?" Kate asks. "We need to split up and find her"

"She's gone Kate. There's nothing we can do", Jack steps forward, putting his hand on the baby's back.

"Jack, she's your sister."

"I know she is my sister Kate. That doesn't change the fact that she is gone. We can stay here and search for her forever and we aren't going to find her if we aren't meant too."

"Jack's right", James says stepping forward. "We need to get to the statue and end this. Claire knows that is where we are going. If she is able too, she'll meet us there"

"Jack", Kate says distraught. "We can't leave her behind. I didn't do all of this just for Aaron to lose her again"

"I know Kate" he says sympathetically. "But there is nothing we can do about it right now. When all this is over, we'll find her"

Kate hugs the baby close to her.

Jack reaches out and runs his hand down her cheek.

"It's all going to be okay Kate. I promise you"

"I hope you're right Jack" she thinks to herself.

***

Hours later they arrived at the edge of the jungle by the statue. The walk to the statue had been quiet, each of them silently wondering what had happened to Claire.

Juliet had fallen into step with Alex during the walk. "When we get there Alex, I want you to stay aside with my sister and Julian. I don't want them or you anywhere near what is going to happen. I know that you can help keep them safe. If anything happens to me or James make sure they get home" she trails off.

Alex nods and places her hand on Juliet's, "I will Juliet, I promise" she says.

"Thank you Alex"

At the edge of the clearing, Juliet had gone to Rachael and told her the plan. While not happy with Juliet putting herself in danger, Rachael understood that she needed to protect her son.

Kate approaches the pair, "Rachael I need you to keep Aaron too, if anything happens to us take him off the island with you" she says reluctantly handing over the baby."

Rachael accepts the baby boy into her arms and nods, "I'll keep him safe Kate" she promises, understanding how difficult it now was for Kate to hand over the baby.

With one last hug and goodbye, Juliet leaves Rachael, Alex, Julian and baby Aaron and heads to the rest of the group, with Kate falling into step beside her.

The others had been coming up with their plan they quickly fill Kate and Juliet in on what they were going to do.

Jack steps forward, cocking his gun "Everyone ready?" he asks.

"Ready as we'll ever be" the other say in unison. They split up to execute their plan.

"You still got my back?" James asks as he and Juliet take their posts.

"Absolutely" she tells him. "You got mine"

He gives her a dimpled grin and raises his eyebrows at her, "Your back, your front. I got it all baby"

She shakes her head, and smiles. Out of the corner of her eye she sees Frank, Ilana and Bram walk towards the statue. She gestures to James, to watch.

***

From all of their vantage points they see Richard Alpert exit the statue and approach the trio.

"What lies in the shadow of the statue?" Ilana asks Richard.

He replies with "Ille qui nos omnes servabit"

She nods, "Richard, finally we meet again"

"Are the three of you alone?" he asks.

Again Ilana nods, "We are alone. Take me to him"

"I'm afraid that isn't going to happen" a bruised and battered Ben says stepping out from the shadows.

Shocked at the sudden voice behind him, Richard turns. "Ben, what are you doing here? What happened to you?"

"If anyone is going to see Jacob, it's me" he replies, ignoring the second part of Richard's question.

Ilana steps forward toward Ben, "You have no business here Ben, this doesn't concern you" Bram steps up beside her.

Ben lifts his gun and shoots Bram point blank in the chest, he falls to the ground. "The hell it doesn't" he glares into Ilana's eyes.

"What the hell", Franks says pulling his gun out at the same time as Ilana does and points them towards Ben.

Richard steps into the middle of them.

From his position, Charles had watched what was happening. Tired of the games he too enters the clearing. "The island is no longer yours Benjamin" he says approaching them. "I thought we solved this earlier", Charles continues. "I thought we came to an understanding. If anyone is going in there, it's not you"

The next few moments are chaos. From their position James and Juliet see Ben's people rush from their hiding places, the sounds of gunfire were everywhere.

"You ready?" he asks her. She nods and they give the signal to the rest of their group.

The next several moments are filled with nothing but gunfire. In the chaos, Charles, Richard, Ilana and Ben disappeared into the statue.

The group battled their way towards the open doorway.

Momentarily distracted by fighting beside her, Juliet feels a hand clasp around her wrist. She turns and looks into the eyes of Ben.

"James" she screams as Ben drags her towards the statue.

James turns and sees Ben dragging Juliet towards the statue, his gun tucked into her side.

She struggles against Ben's grasp and feels his gun dig harder into her side. "Ben don't do this" she cries out.

He glares at her, not speaking and continues to drag her.

From behind them a voice calls out "Dad, stop this"

They both swing their heads around Alex is standing behind them with a gun pointed directly at Ben.

"Alex" he says surprised. It had been months since he'd seen her.

"Let her go dad" she says.

"Stay out of this Alex, it has nothing to do with you"

"Nothing to do with me" Alex can't help but laugh. She tightens her grip on the gun, and fires it at the ground beside Ben and Juliet. "I said let her go dad"

"Alex, you wouldn't shoot me" he searches her eyes for any sign that he was right.

"I won't?" she asks, firing again, hitting the ground on the other side of them.

The distraction had allowed James to catch up to them. "Listen to Alex Ben, let her go. Whatever all this is, it isn't about Juliet"

Ben shakes his head at the pair of them. "You know nothing" he seethes. Using Juliet as a shield he drags her into the open door of the statue, pushing it shut behind him.

"Son of a bitch" James says, rushing towards the door, trying to get it open. "_Juliet"_ he calls out, slamming his fist against the stone, "_Juliet"._

"I'm sorry James", Alex says stepping beside him and putting her hand over his to stop him from smashing his fist. "I couldn't shoot him without hitting Juliet"

***

The gunfire ended as abruptly as it started, in its wake Alpert, Ilana, Richard, Charles, Ben and Juliet had all disappeared into the statue.

Kate screaming voice breaks James from his focus of trying to open the door.

"Jack, its Hurley"

James turns to see Jack dropping to the ground beside Hurley. He rushes over to them, dropping to the ground beside Jack.

"He's gone, there isn't anything I can do", Jack says looking into Kate's tearstained eyes.

"He can't be dead Jack", she pleads. "You have to fix this"

"I'm sorry Kate" he says pulling her into his arms, "I can't fix it"

"Juliet's gone", James says emotionless, "Ben dragged her into the statue".

"What?" Kate asks, wiping away her tears.

Alex joins them. "There was nothing we could do, he used her to shield himself and dragged her into the statue.

Kate looks down at Hurley's body which Jack had covered him with a blanket. "We can't just leave him here like this."

"We have no choice Kate, he's gone and this isn't over yet. Juliet is in there and I'm going to get her back or die trying. Are you with me?"

There are nods from everyone in the group.

"Alex, go back to Rachael. You promised Juliet you'd keep her safe" James tells the girl.

Alex agrees and leaves the group to go back to Rachael and the children.

James looks back at the statue, "how the hell are we going to get in there?" he wonders.

* * *

Inside the statue, Juliet manages to get herself out of Ben's grasp.

"There's no place to go Juliet" he sneers at her.

"Why are you doing this Ben?" she asks. "So many people have died and for what?"

He ignores her questions and pushes the gun into her abdomen, causing her to cry out. "Enough with the questions Juliet, how many times do I need to tell you that I don't care what happens anymore. Everything I have done, bringing all of you here. All I wanted was you"

She shakes her head defiantly, "I will never be yours Ben I would die first"

"We could check the validity of that statement" he says, digging the gun into her further, causing her to cry out again.

Fearing for the life of her unborn child, Juliet swings her free arm around hitting Ben in the side of the head, rattling him enough for her to escape from his grasp and disappear into the darkness of the maze of tunnels within the statue.

"_Juliet",_ Ben screams out after her. He fires his gun into the darkened hallway, the sound echoing throughout the tunnels. He follows her down the hallway.

* * *

Outside, darkness had again taken over the island. James was franticly trying to find a way into the statue. He is alone when he is approached by a male figure.

"The way into the statue is this way", the man says, pointing towards the back of the statue.

James looks through the darkness, the voice it was so familiar. "John?" he says as the man steps into the moonlight. James glances around looking for the others but they are alone.

"This is what you need to do", John says and explains to him how he could get into the statue.

As quickly as John had come he disappeared.

The next thing James is aware of is being shaken awake. "Jim, wake up man" he hears Miles panicked voice.

"What the hell" he says, as his vision clears and Miles is standing in front of him.

"That's just what I was asking", Miles says. "What the hell happened to you man?"

"Jack", Miles calls out. "He's over here"

Jack, Kate and Sayid all run towards the two. Jack kneels down next to them, inspecting the large bump which had materialized on James forehead.

"What happened to you?" he asks. "We've been looking for you for hours"

James becomes aware of the pain in his head and runs his fingers over the bump. He jumps up, "Juliet?" he says.

"We haven't found the way in yet James", Kate says touching his arm. "What happened to you?" she asks again.

"I don't know" James says in an irritated tone and brushes off the question. He truly had no clue what had happened to him, nor did he care. "I know how to get in" he says remembering what John had told him. Had he really been here? He quickly wondered and then pushed the question out of his mind. It didn't really matter if he had been there, as long as what John had told him worked.

***

Twenty minutes later they were inside the statue. Kate falls into step beside him. "How did you figure it out?" she asks. "How did you know how to get us in here?"

He glances over at her. "John Locke told me"

She looks at him in disbelief. "John Locke?"

He nods, "I know it sounds crazy, but you know that Jules said she saw him at the Swan site weeks ago"

"But" she stops and shakes her head. "Why not" she shrugs her shoulders," none of this makes sense. Why wouldn't dead a John Locke be here, showing you the way in?"

"I knew it sounded crazy Freckles, that's why I wasn't gonna say anything"

"It's okay Sawyer, nothing surprises me anymore. We are going to get her back"

He nods and they silently walks on.

They all turn at the distant sound of gunfire and the sound of a woman's screams. James heart sinks he knew the voice was Juliet's. They turn and rush towards the direction of the sound.

They enter a brightly lit room, at the far end of the room the floor is split, looking like it had been split in an earthquake. The edge dropped off into a dark cavern.

At the edge, Juliet is struggling with Ben over the gun.

"_Juliet",_ he screams out, rushing towards them getting to them a moment too late as Ben and Juliet disappear off the edge.

"_Juliet_" he calls out rushing to the edge. At that moment he sees her fingers just barely grasping the edge of the wall.

He drops to his knees and grabs her wrists. "Thought we discussed this, you said you weren't planning on going anywhere" he says with a shaky voice as he looked into her frightened eyes. She can only shake her head. Looking beyond Juliet, he can see Ben sprawled out on the ground about thirty feet below them. A puddle of blood was quickly oozing out from beneath his head.

Miles reaches the ledge along with Jack and they get Juliet to the safety of solid ground.

James pulls her into his arms and she throws her arms around his neck. "Ben" she says pulling away from him, trying to look behind her.

"Don't" he says turning her head away from the ledge. "You don't need to see" he says trying to protect her from whatever pain he could. "He's dead"

She again wraps her arms around him and buries her head in his neck and sobs.

When he finally feels her sobs ebb he lets her go just slightly, still holding her but able to look at her. "Better?" he asks.

She can only nod.

They are approached by the rest of the group.

Ilana and Richard step into the room. "You aren't finished yet", Ilana says to them. "The war isn't quite over"

"What do you mean?" Jack asks stepping forward towards her.

Juliet shakes her head, pulls away from James and steps forward beside Jack.

"Your war may not be over" she starts, "But we are done"

Ilana shakes her head, "I'm afraid that the decision isn't yours"

"Mine or not, I'm making it" Juliet stands her ground. "What are we fighting for?" she asks. "All of these years, all of the people who have lost their lives both on this island and off this island, for what?

"For the island", Ilana steps forward towards Juliet. "You know that the island is a special place Juliet"

Juliet shakes her head, "Not good enough. We've been pawns in your fight for too long. We are done. I will give my life before I take another life"

"But that isn't the way that it is suppose to happen" Richard steps up next to Ilana, shaking his head. "You always fight. Throughout the history of the island, everyone has always fought"

At that comment, the others step in line with Juliet. James slides his hand into Juliet's and gives Richard a sceptical look. "What the hell is that suppose to mean man?"

Behind them they hear another male voice. "You always were the wild card Juliet Burke" the man says.

Ilana and Richard both turn, "Jacob" they says in surprise. Only an hour earlier they'd watched as Charles Widmore had shot him during a struggle.

"But" says Richard, "We watched you die"

"You thought you watched me die" Jacob says. "As long as you believed I was gone you were willing to fight, to keep the loop going"

Juliet and the rest watched this little exchange with interest.

"Keep the loop going?" Juliet steps forward. "The bomb, the reset, that's what that was?"

He nods, "But it has all been in the name of progress my dear" he says stepping closer to Juliet.

"You see, all of you were brought here for a reason. Just as those before you. Just as predicted you have all fought each other even when you didn't know what you were fighting for. All through time, the lure of power and leadership has made everyone who has come to the island fight to control it"

"Until you" he says looking to Juliet. "All you ever wanted was to go home, to your sister. But you stayed to save her life. You never cared about the power or the leadership."

She gives him a questioning look.

"You were never supposed to have been brought back to the island. When you sacrificed your life for your friends and detonated that bomb you were given a pass, given back your freedom so to speak. Detonating the bomb, stopped the previous incident and erased any need for you to be brought to the island. Something went wrong though, you all remembered the past. That has never happened before. Ben remembered too though, and remembered his obsession for you. It was him, not I that brought you back here Juliet. When you came back here, you became a variable, like your friend Desmond"

"What the hell does that mean?" James asks, squeezing Juliet's hand.

"It means that they are the first two in the history of the island who have been able to change the course of the island's history. We were able to manipulate Desmond to keep the loop going. His love for Penny drove him to do my bidding. It was him that brought us all here, in this particular time, together, by turning the wheel. Your friend Goodwin was saved this time, because he chose to help you, and to save you by stopping the time jumps. His fate was changed, as was Alexandra's."

"And what does that mean for Juliet?" James asks, tired of Jacob's game.

"It's over", Jacob says simply.

"I'm not sure we understand", says Juliet, looking to her friends and back to Jacob.

"You all have been so caught up in the island being your destiny that you forgot about free will", Jacob explains.

"_By refusing to fight"_ she doesn't hear the rest of what he says. Her thoughts go back to shortly after Ben had brought her back to the island, the day he'd told her about the war. _"Good against bad, white against black"_ was how he had explained it.

She is brought back to the present by Jacob's voice. "You have two choices Juliet. You can chose to leave the island, go back to your lives in the real world like none of this ever happened, or you can stay on the island becomes its protectors so to speak. While you are here, there will be no more wars, no more other's, no more truces. You'll be free to live out your lives here in peace. What has happened can not be changed again though, the loop has ended. If you chose to go back, everyone that has died will still be dead. It won't be like the last time. There is one catch though. You must all agree on what to do. You either all stay or you all go"

"What about Claire?" Kate asks. "Where is she?"

"I'm afraid that is one question that I can't answer", he says evasively. "If you make the right decisions, you'll find the answer"

Juliet turns to look at the group behind her, searching their faces for any idea of what their decision should be. She turns back to Jacob. "We'll give you our answer in twenty four hours"

He nods, "so be it" he says. "I will see you tomorrow"

With that he turns and exits the room.

When he is gone, James gathers Juliet in his arms. Relief floods over him that for now it seemed it was over.

"What the hell are we going to do?" Miles asks.

***

During the next twelve hours they buried both Hurley and Daniel. Both had been killed during the initial gunfight, along with many of Ben's men. Most had wondered silently if Daniel was more at peace in death than he'd been during his last few hours of life, somewhere he'd be reunited with Charlotte again.

The loss of Hurley had impacted all of them immensely. He was the one person through all of what had happened they'd all come to rely on for friendship and as a confident. His loss would linger with them for a very long time, whether they decided to stay on the island or go home.

Twenty four hours later they were all standing in front of Jacob.

"You've made your decision then?" he asks.

Juliet steps forward, "We have"

"And?" he asks.

"Our choice is...."

THE END!


	45. Chapter 45

**For all who have asked... The epilogue. **

**Bits and pieces of Life (Epilogue)**

"_We'll give you our answer in twenty four hours"_

_He nods, "so be it" he says. "I will see you tomorrow"_

_***_

"You sure about this?" he asks, bending into her and whispering in her ear. "Can he really be trusted?"

Juliet shrugs her shoulders, "I have no idea, but I don't see that we have any other choice."

"True enough" he agrees.

In silence they made their way back to camp. Each had their own heavy thoughts about what had transpired and what they had lost over the past twenty four hours, and what would transpire in the next twenty four hours.

"Juliet", Rachael runs to her sister and throws her arms around her. "I was so worried."

"With good reason", James says walking up to them, scooping Julian up in his arms. He puts a hand on Juliet's shoulder. "We almost lost her in there"

Rachael gives Juliet a questioning look. "What do you mean we almost lost her?"

"It's nothing Rach, it's over now"

"Over?"

Juliet nods, "We have twenty four hours to decide whether we stay on the island, or go home"

"What's to think about Jules, they offered to let us go home! Let's go..."

Juliet shrugs her shoulder and looks up at James. "Only thing is, I'm not so sure I want too"

Rachael gives her a look that suggests she thinks Juliet has finally snapped and lost her mind.

"The island is safe now Rach, we've been assured that no one will ever harm us again"

"And you believe them?" she snaps back quickly.

She nods, "Yeah, I guess that I do"

Rachael reaches out and takes Julian from James arms, "Talk some sense into her, would you?"

Before he is able to respond Rachael walks off toward Sayid.

***

In the meantime, Jack, Kate, Jin and Miles head off to retrieve the bodies of Hurley and Daniel.

Whatever the next twenty four hours was going to bring, their friends deserved to be properly buried.

Kate had a hard time leaving Aaron with Alex.

"He's fine Kate", Jack says picking up Kate's hand and leading her along. "He's with Alex, and Sawyer and Juliet and Sun. All people who love him and will look out for him."

"I know", she says sullenly, "But none of them are his mom Jack. He needs Claire"

"We'll find her Kate."

"If we leave the island, I'm not so sure that we will"

Jack stops in his tracks, "You want to stay on the island?" he asks surprised.

"If it means that Aaron and Claire get to be together, than yes. Jack, don't you get it? If we leave, everything that I did, everything that has happened, it means nothing. I helped you with that bomb because I thought it meant that Aaron got to be raised by Claire. All of this, all it has done is separate them again. You heard Jacob, if we make the right decision Claire will be returned to us."

"Kate, what if the right decision is leaving the island? What if somehow Claire got off the island?"

"She wouldn't leave without Aaron"

"Kate, she left him and wandered away. Maybe she wasn't meant to raise him after all. Maybe you really were meant to be Aaron's mom."

"How can you say that Jack? She is your sister"

He shrugs his shoulders he truly had no answer for this situation. Yes, Claire was his sister and he loved her but he had no answer for why she would have walked off and left Aaron alone with them. "I don't know Kate, but what I do know is that whatever you want to do, I will support your decision"

***

When they are alone again, James turns towards Juliet and for the first time since leaving the statue he takes a good look at her. She is pale and tired looking. The day's events had taken a toll on her despite her tough exterior. She had a vacant look in her eyes as she watched her sister walk away.

He takes her hand, "Come let's sit"

"We should go and help the others with Hurley. . " she trails off.

"I think they'll understand", he says leading her towards a nearby log.

"But"

"No buts"

"James" she says pulling away from him.

"Juliet" he replies with more insistence. "Woman, just once would you not argue with me"

He sits on the log and pulls her down into his lap, wrapping his arms around her and places a hand on her abdomen. She places her hand over his, "the baby is okay"

"I know" he replies. "But it isn't the baby I am worried about right now, it's the mommy"

She shifts in his lap so they are looking at one another. "The mommy is alright too"

"Is she?"

She nods.

"You really want to stay on the island?"

She shrugs her shoulders, "I honestly don't know. The decision is not only mine. We all need to agree and we only have twenty four hours. If we stay here, you'll never get to know Clementine"

He takes her hand gently in his and squeezes it, "I know" he says looking to the ground.

***

_The loss of Hurley had impacted all of them immensely. He was the one person through all of what had happened they'd all come to rely on for friendship and as a confident. His loss would linger with them for a very long time._

During the next twenty four hours they contemplated their situation silently and then together. Initially they each had very differing ideas of what they wanted. Some couldn't contemplate staying on the island while others couldn't contemplate leaving.

Jin and Sun still dreamed of the little girl that they had conceived on the island. While Sun wasn't pregnant yet they were confident that if they stayed on the island it would happen for them. Juliet assured them that if they did go back to the real world, she would help them with their infertility problems and either way they would have the child they both dreamed about.

Sayid thought about Nadia. He'd left her to keep her alive and in exchange the island had helped him to find love again. His love for Rachael and for Julian was different than it was for Nadia. There was a piece of his heart that would always belong to Nadia, but he was committed to Rachael and their life together wherever she chose that life to be.

For Miles, ultimately the decision was easy. He hadn't balked at coming back to the island even when he knew it was going to be dangerous. He'd never felt a real purpose in the real world, nor had he had friends like the ones that were here with him now on the island. He would happily agree with whatever choice those friends made.

_Twenty four hours later they were all standing in front of Jacob._

"_You've made your decision then?" _

_Juliet steps forward, "We have"_

"_And?" he asks._

"_Our choice is",_ she looks around at the faces of her friends and is met by smiles and head nods. In the back of her mind she can hear Bernard's voice from another life time, "_people try their whole lives to get themselves a quiet place by the ocean where they can live in peace... we just care about being together... it's all that matters in the end_". Her eyes lock with James, he smiles and nods at her.

She turns back to Jacob, feeling more confident now. "We are going to stay"

***

_3 months later...._

Life over the next three months returned to some semblance of normal. Normal being a relative term since one wouldn't really have considered their lives to be normal. They had moved back into the homes in the Barracks where they had spent three years in the 1970's. It had taken some time for Ben's people to accept their presence, but little by little the barriers were coming down and after awhile it seemed like they'd always been there.

That first day when they'd arrived back at the barracks they were greeted by Claire. She had no memory of anything that had happened to her on the island in the weeks preceding her disappearance. It had taken time but she slowly had begun to gain back a few memories and slowly began caring for Aaron again. To the present day they still really had no idea what had happened to her and when it came right down to it, it didn't really matter.

After making their decision to stay on the island, it had taken James about twenty four hours to ask Juliet to marry him. It had taken her less than thirty seconds to answer.

Rachael puts the finishing touches on Juliet's hair. "I can't believe you are getting married today" she says with a big smile. She turns Juliet towards the mirror so that she could see the finished product.

Juliet places her hands over her expanding middle. "Guess it's the right thing to do, considering my condition" she laughs. She was now just over five months pregnant and she was no longer able to keep it a secret.

Rachael had never seen Juliet more at peace than she had over the past couple of months. It was like some weight had been taken off her shoulder, and Juliet was finally living the life she had always dreamed off.

"I am so happy for you Jules", says Rachael, her voice breaking.

"Don't do that", Juliet says, a tear of happiness sliding from her eye.

"Don't you do that", Rachael reaches out and dabs the tear away, "you are going to mess up your makeup"

"You need to get dressed they are expecting us down on the beach shortly"

Juliet looks over to the bed where a simple white sundress was waiting for her. She laughs, "Hmm, maybe I should have chosen something other than white"

Rachael laughs "I'm going to make sure Sayid has Julian dressed. He's so excited to be walking his favourite aunt down the aisle"

With that, Juliet was alone again. She trails her fingers down the dress, thinking of James. She'd never let herself dream that this day might actually happen. They'd never really talked about getting officially married, they were just happy to being together. But now, the timing just seemed right.

She finally pulls the dress on, and takes one last look in the mirror and smiles. She places a hand back on her abdomen. "Let's go see daddy"

It was sunset at the beach when she arrived with Rachael, Sayid and Julian. The rest had already gathered.

Rachael and Sayid take their places with the others. Julian reaches up and takes Juliet's hand. "You ready Auntie Juliet?" he asks.

She nods at the little boy and takes his hand.

They step into the clearing and her eyes lock with James.

***

_A few months later..._

He rolled over with the intention of snuggling closer to her and was met with just her empty pillow.

"Juliet?" he says sitting up and glancing around the room. His eyes fall on the clock and he sees that it is just after five.

He gets out of bed and pulls on a pair of boxers and a tee-shirt. He finds her spread out on the lounge on the back patio. "It was cold in bed without you. You are like my own personal furnace these days" he teases pulling up a chair next to her. "You okay?" he asks reaching out and touching her bulging abdomen.

"No action yet" she says placing her hand over his, "Well I guess I should specify, no action other than the soccer practice going on inside me"

She was now eight and a half months pregnant and unsure how the baby could possibly have any more room to grow. "This kid is going be a professional when it finally comes out"

He laughs, "That's my boy"

He stands and takes her hand, helping her to sit upright and slide forward. He sits behind her and starts massaging her lower back. It's not long before he finally feels the tight muscles release under his hands.

"How much longer do you think?" he finally asks, sliding his hands around her. He can feel the baby actively moving under his hands.

She shrugs, "Tough to know. I've predicted many baby arrival dates. It's much more difficult when it's me who is pregnant, but I think it's still a few weeks away"

He leans in and trails kisses down her neck, "Think you are ready to go back to bed?" he mumbles against her. When he gets no answer he realizes she's fallen asleep in his arms.

***

_A few weeks after that...._

"Where are we going James?"

"You'll see when we get there" he says, glancing over at her with a fully dimpled smile.

"You do realize that I'm one week overdue and not in the mood for surprises right?" she says seriously, shooting him a glare. "I'm tired, I'm hot, my back hurts..."

"Yeah yeah", he says. "But this is a good surprise."

She shakes her head. "Unless this surprise has something to do with an induction, epidural and delivery, I'm really just not in the mood James"

"Jules, honey, just trust me"

"Trust you", she mumbles, "It was you that got me into this predicament in the first place" she mumbles under her breath.

"I seem to remember you being involved in that event too sweetheart" he says glancing over at her, giving her another dimpled grin.

She reaches over and hits him in the arm. "Smart ass"

He stops the vehicle at the edge of the sand.

She looks up to see why he was stopping and realizes he'd brought her to the beach where they'd been married a few months earlier.

He leans into the back and uncovers a picnic basket. "Thought we'd enjoy one last quiet day together before the munchkin arrives"

She glances into the back seat and notices the picnic basket and blankets. "You did all this?" she asks, her voice breaking. She'd been overly emotional throughout her whole pregnancy and now that they were nearing the end that hadn't changed.

"I have to admit, I had a little help from your sister. She made lunch", he replies.

"Oh James", she leans over and hugs him with some difficultly. "I'm sorry that I'm so miserable these days"

He returns her hug. "It's a good thing I love you so much" he teases. "So what do you think?" he asks. "Feel like an afternoon relaxing on the beach?"

"Absolutely"

They spent the next few hours relaxing on the beach and in the ocean. She found the water more enjoyable than she could have imagined. She'd fallen asleep on the blankets afterwards, tucked into his arms.

A few hours later he'd woken her saying they should get home before dark.

They are still a ways away from home when the jeep sputters and stops.

"Son of a bitch", James says when it dies.

"Pop the hood", Juliet says, with her hand on the door handle, ready to open the door.

"Jules, you can't be serious" he says glancing over at her.

"If you think I'm walking home, you're crazy" she replies. "Pop the hood I'll see what I can do"

He shrugs his shoulders and reaches down and pops the hood.

She climbs out and goes to the front of the jeep. She flips the latch and the hood pops up.

He reaches into the back seat and grabs the walkie. "Miles are you there?" he asks pressing the button. "It's Jim. The damn jeep broke down. We need someone to come out and get us"

"Gotcha Jim", he hears Miles voice crackle through the ancient walkie. "I'll come right out, where exactly are you?"

James gives him directions to their location.

"Figure it out Blondie?" he asks, half chuckling to himself at the thought of his over-due pregnant wife trying to fix their jeep.

"Engine is overheated" she shakes her head, "and when is the last time you checked the oil in this thing. Looks like it hasn't been changed since nineteen seventy, oh" She feels her abdomen tighten and a strong contraction stops her mid sentence.

"Nineteen seventy, oh?" he questions. With the hood of the jeep up, from his vantage point he is unable to see she is doubled over at the front of the jeep, gripping her tightened abdomen. When she doesn't respond he climbs out of the jeep and notices her.  
"Jules?" he rushes to her side. Placing a hand over hers he can feel the tightening beneath her hand.

"Son of a bitch" she finally says when the contraction subsides. She takes a few deep breaths and straightens herself back up, looking eye to eye with a very worried looking James. She'd been having Braxton hicks for the past couple weeks, but this was different.

"Was that?" he asks, afraid of what her answer was going to be.

She nods, "Doesn't matter though, I've delivered hundreds of first babies. Labours are never that quick. If Miles leaves right away it won't take more than an hour to get out here to get us"

He frantically looks around suddenly being alone didn't seem like such a great idea. "Can we get the jeep going?" he asks slightly panicky.

She shakes her head, finding it amusing that suddenly she was the calming influence. "This thing isn't going anywhere."

He helps her to the jeep and to sit, not that she needed help. Now that the contraction was over she felt okay for the time being.

He reaches back and grabs the Walkie again. "Miles" he yells into the thing. Through the static they can just barely hear Miles voice. James shakes the thing out of frustration. "Bring the damn doc with you" he yells into the thing. "Juliet's in labour". The Walkie sputters out more static and then it's quiet.

"Son of a bitch", James says, throwing the dead machine into the back seat.

Within 8 minutes of the first contraction, Juliet feels her abdomen tightening up again. She starts to breathe in deeply through her nose and out through her mouth. She grabs for James hand, squeezing it tightly through the contraction.

"Another one?"

This one is shorter than the first one, and when it's over she climbs out of the jeep. "I need to walk" she says.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" he asks sceptically, going to her side.

She nods, "Who's the doctor here?" Seeing the look in her eye he chooses not to argue and just does what she wants.

After a few minutes of walking she stops suddenly in her track.

"Another one?" he asks.

She shakes her head, "My water just broke"

"Son of a bitch, Jules we need to get back"

She shakes her head. "Won't matter there isn't going to be time", she starts and is consumed by another contraction. Breathing heavily she turns and puts her head against him, rubbing her hands over her abdomen. He puts her arms around her, rubbing his hands deeply into her back as they'd practiced. When the contraction subsides she finishes her sentence. "We are just going to have to hope it doesn't take Miles long to get here. I hope he heard your message about bringing Jack with him."

She just finishes talking when another contraction takes over her, stronger than the others she cries out which does nothing to calm James down any.

He continues to put pressure into her lower back as she turns and bends over the front of the jeep.

An hour later she almost has no relief from the contractions. Miles should have been to them by now. James silently prayed he got the message about bringing Jack.

"They are coming almost continuously James", Juliet finally says when she gets a moments reprieve.

"I feel like I need to push" she says, her voice cracking with pain. "They aren't gong to get here you're going to have to deliver this baby"

"God Jules, I can't deliver the baby" he replies, running his hand through his hair.

"You can" she nods, "I can talk you through it." She motions towards the back seat. "The blankets, we'll need them"

She fires a rapid series of instructions at him, to which he follows without question. Finally he helps her down onto to the blanket. In a moment of clarity she notices the panicked look in his eye. She reaches out for his hand. "We can do this James"

He looks into her eyes and he sees no fear at all. He nods his head, "okay" he finally says. "Let's meet our baby. You ready?"

She nods just as the next contraction takes over her. He counts and she pushes.

By the third round, Juliet is sweating and exhausted. "I can't do it anymore" she cries.

"Yes you can Blondie, just one more and the baby will be out." He feels her stiffen again. "Push Blondie" he says.

A few short moments later their child pops out into his waiting hands.

He is only aware of his tears when he feels the wetness against his cheek.

"It's a girl, Jules" he says looking at her, beaming after he'd carefully cut the cord just as Juliet had instructed.

She has a moment of panic when she doesn't hear the baby cry. She is exhausted but the doctor in her spurs her to act. "James, she's not crying"

He sees the panic in Juliet's eyes, that she'd hidden in her voice. He glances down at the baby who a moment ago had been squirming in his arms, and was now limp and dusky.

He passes the baby to Juliet's waiting arms. Using the shirt that James had wrapped the baby in, Juliet vigorously rubs the little girl's body. Tears slide from her eyes as she works to try to get the baby to breath. "Come on sweetheart" she says tenderly to the baby, still rubbing the little body. It feels like an eternity before the little girl finally let's out a strong healthy cry. Juliet cries along with her, clutching the baby to her breast.

James feels relief wash over him at the sound of the baby. In the distance he hears an approaching vehicle and silently prays that Miles had brought help with him. His eyes meet Juliet's and then move to the little blond haired baby in her arms. "I love you Jules"

The approaching jeep pulls up and stops, Jack and Rachel quickly approach them.

"Oh Jules", Rachael says dropping to the ground beside her. She peers at the little girl in Juliet's arms. "She's beautiful."

"Great timing you have there doc, could have used you an hour or so ago", James says while standing up as Jack approaches them.

"Congratulations Dad", Jack says reaching out a hand to Sawyer. Jack glances at Juliet and the baby. "You did good man", he says patting James on the back.

Jack opens up the supplies he'd brought with him and goes to work on Juliet.

They couldn't convince Juliet to spend a night at the clinic for observation. She'd insisted that since she'd delivered her child in the jungle, alone with James that they were going to spend their first night as a family home together in their own bed. They all knew better than to argue with Juliet when she'd made up her mind. James was comfortable knowing that Jack was two doors down to the left and Rachael was next door to the right, if by chance any emergency should arise.

When he'd finally cleared the house out for the night, he locked up and returned to their room. He quietly opened the door expecting Juliet to be sound asleep, instead he found her propped up in the bed with baby 'No name' laying on her legs.

Juliet looks up from the baby and smiles at him. She pats the bed next to her. "Come join us daddy".

He climbs carefully on the bed next to her and wraps an arm around Juliet. "You were amazing today" he says leaning in and kissing her softly.

"I couldn't have done it without you"

"We are a team Jules". He reaches down and puts his fingers into the baby's hand. The tiny hand clasps around his finger. "She needs a name Blondie"

"I know. I was so sure that she was going to be a boy that I hadn't thought of girls names"

He looks down at the baby and then smiles at Juliet, "Yeah, I guess if we call her Zachary James she might get teased at school. What about Amy?"

Juliet looks over at him and smiles, Amy was perfect. "Amy Rachael Mary Ford, big name for a little girl, but I think it suits her"

***

_Five years later..._

Juliet was sitting on the beach watching the three little blond girls play in the sand.

"Amy", she calls out, "make sure that Emma and Hannah don't get too close to the water"

At hearing their names the three girls looked towards their mother. "I won't mommy", Amy replied as she shuffled her identical three year old twin sisters Emma and Hannah away from the waters edge.

Juliet laughs, at five Amy had become quite the little mommy. She was so like Juliet in both looks and personality it scared her sometimes. Amy could hide her feelings from the world when she wanted too, and at times be so fiercely independent it drove both James and Juliet crazy. And then there was Emma and Hannah. She had been surprised when she had gotten pregnant again. They hadn't been trying for another child, and then to find out it was twins came as a double shock.

The twins were identical in both looks and personality. They may look like their mother but that was where it ended. Thankfully, they'd been easy going babies and now as toddlers they happy and content little girls. They reminded her of James in more ways than one.

"There you guys are", James said as he wandered onto the beach. "I got home and the house was way too quiet" he chuckles.

"Yeah", she laughs, "I can imagine"

He leans in and kisses her softly, and then places a kiss on the top of the head of the baby snuggled in her arms. "And how's my boy? Are you keeping all these girls in line?"

One month earlier Juliet had given birth to their fourth child, finally a boy. "Your son has decided that daytime is for sleeping and night-time is for partying" she says handing the baby over to him.

"Hmm, we are going to have to chat about that buddy. Mommy gets cranky when you keep her up all night", he says to the sleeping baby in his arms.

"Smart ass", Juliet says playfully hitting him on the arm.

They are interrupted by two other little boys running by. "Hey Auntie Juliet, Uncle James", Julian and Aaron called out as they ran by to catch up to Amy and the twins. Following close on their heels was Kate, carrying her own fifteen month old son Matthew on her hip. Kate plops down on the sand beside them. "I sometimes wonder where these guys get all their energy"

"Where's Claire and Rachael", Juliet asks.

"Working today, I said I'd watch the kids. Sun's on her way with Ji Yeon too. They should be here shortly"

No sooner than Kate had mentioned her name, Sun appeared on the beach with a four year old Ji Yeon in tow. The little girl ran to play with the other children.

James hands Juliet the baby and kisses her cheek. "I'll leave you ladies to chat, I should get back to work before Miles comes looking for me" he says. "Later all" he says as he disappears back into the jungle.

When they were alone, Juliet looks to the other women. She had been thinking a lot lately about their decision to stay on the island. Just as Jacob had promised there had never been any trouble and they had been living in peace. "Do you guys ever regret our decision to stay?" she asks them.

She gets a resounding "No" from both women.

Juliet watches the children playing for a few moments and then speaks, "Sometimes I wonder about the real world. I mean we know what is happening there and we know that we could leave on the sub at any time, but I'm happy here. I'm content with the life that James and I have made for ourselves and our children. It's just... simple. We don't need the fancy cars, the big houses." She watches the children playing, "All we really need is each other."

The end!

**Thanks to everyone who has read this story. I have enjoyed reading all of your reviews and ideas. If there is interest, I do have an idea for the alternate 'real world' ending. Let me know :).**


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